COLLECTIONS
OF THE
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
VOL. VII.
BATH:
PUBLISHED FOR THE SOCIETY.
1876.




PRINTED BY E. UPTON & SON, BATH, ME.




PREFACE.
THE long interval since the last issue of our collections has been
occasioned by various circumstances. The recent war proving a
serious embarrassment in the work of publication; the lamented
removal by death of the accomplished and efficient editor of the
preceding volumes; the slow accumulation of materials for a new
issue; and the distinct enterprise undertaken by the Society, under
the auspices of the state government, of a series of volumes on the
Documentary History of Maine; have contributed to arrest this
special work of the Society.
The publication of this volume was committed to the direction
of the subscribers, the supervision of the press being assigned' to
Rev. Dr. Dike. It has been the endeavor of the committee, as will
be seen, to fulfil one object of the Society, which is to secure biographical notices of deceased associates, who by their lives have
laid the Society under obligation to perpetuate the remembrance of
their public service by fitting commemoration. Efforts have been
made in vain to obtain notices of others who have been prominent
in the annals of the Society, which, it is hoped, may appear in another volume. The writers of the papers alone are responsible for
the views which they advance.
A. S. PACKARD.
SAMUEL F. DIKE.








CONTENTS OF VOLUME VII.








CONTENTS.
ARTICLE.                                                PAGE.
I.-Ancient Penobscot. By Hon. John E. Godfrey, of
B angor......................................   1
II.-Pilgrims of the Penobscot. By the same.........     23
III.-Baron de St. Castin. By the same...............    39
IV. —Castin the Younger. By the same...............     73
V.-Bashaba and the Tarratines. By the same........     93
VI.-Garrison Houses; York County. By the late Hon.
Edward Emerson Bourne, of Kennebunk.......      107
VII.-Journal of the Attack on the British Forces, July,
1779; from the Nova Scotia Gazette, Halifax.
Communicated by Joseph Williamson,!Esq., of
B elfast.......................................  121
VIII.-Pemaquid in its Relations to our Colonial History.
Address, by B. F. Hough, M. D., Lowville, N. Y.,
at the 267th anniversary of the landing of the
Popham Colony, August, 1874.................    127
IX.-Materials for a History of Fort Halifax. Copies,
&c., from documents in the office of the Secretary of State of Massachusetts.   By Joseph
Williamson, Esq., of Belfast..................  165
X.-Proposed Province of New Ireland. By the same.     199
XI.-Slavery in Maine. By the same..................    207
XII.-Religious Denominations in Maine at the close of
the Revolution. From the papers of Hon. Wm.
D. Williamson. By the same.................     217




viii                     CONTENTS.
ARTICLE.                                                PAGE.
XIII.-Notices of the Powell Family. Extracts from manuscripts of T. D. Powell, of North Yarmouth...  231
XIV.- Origin of Article VIII., Literature, in the Constitution of Maine. By Hon. S. P. Benson, of
Yarm outh....................................   239
XV. —Champlain's Voyages, 1604, 5 and 6, in the Gulf
of Maine. By Gen. John M. Brown, of Falm outh.......................................  245
XVI.-Now and Then. By the late William Allen, Esq.,
of Norridgewock..............................   267
XVII.-Popham's Town of Fort St. George. By Rufus
K. Sewall, Esq., of Wiscasset.................  291
XVIII.-Memoir of Col. Benjamin Burton. By Joseph
Williamson, Esq., of Belfast..................  323
XIX.-Acadia and its Aborigines. By Rev. Eugene Vetromile, S. J., of Worcester, Mass..............  337
XX.-Bingham Land. By William Allen, Esq., late of
Norridgewock................................    351
XXI.-Proceedings of the Society; with Biographical
Sketches of Deceased Members. Hon. Robert
P. Dunlap, 367; Rev. J. W. Ellingwood, D. D.,
371; John Merrick, Esq., 379; Robert H. Gardiner, Esq., 403; Rt. Rev. Bishop Burgess,
D. D., 429; Hon. George Evans, LL. D., 457;
Hon. William Willis, LL. D., (by permission,
from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, January, 1873,) 473; Cyrus Eaton,
Esq.,  487.....................................  361




ARTICLE I.
THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT,
OR
PANAWANSKEK.
BY HON. JOHN E. GODFREY,
OF BANGOR.
1








THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
THE spelling of the original name of Penobscot was a
difficult matter with the early French, in this country, for
it was spelled by them, as our late Secretary, Doctor Ballard, discovered, in not far from sixty different ways —
Panouamske, Panawanskek, Pamnaouamske, Panahamsequet, Panamske, Panaomske, Panaouamsde, Panaouamske,
Panouamske, Panoumsque, Panouske are some of the forms.
The English did better; they caught the sound, "Penobscot," and kept it.
It is difficult to determine when the English established
that pronunciation. We find it thus spelled in Strachey's
account of the expedition that sailed from England, in
1606, to establish the Popham Colony. He says that, on
the eighth of September, "Captain Gilbert with twenty" two others departed in the shallop for the river of
"Penobscot.*"  Strachey, however, wrote in 1618. Captain John Smith was upon the coast in 1614 and visited
Penobscot. The name does not appear in the journal of
Weymouth's voyage, in 1605, although it is believed, by
many, that the Penobscot was the river he visited.
At the time Champlain sailed up the river, in the autumn
of 1605, it was called, by the savages, " Pentagoet."  Mount
Desert was called " Pematig " or "Pematiq;" and from
* Maine Historical Collections, iii., 303.




4              THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
this, it is said, the waters of the bay and river, westward,
acquired the name Pematigoett and, finally, "Pentagoet."
This name the French afterward applied to the Peninsula
of Matchebiguatus-commonly called Bagaduce-now a
part of Castine; the English applying to the same locality
the name Penobscot.
It would relieve curiosity to know if there was a permanent Abenakis village, prior to the advent of the French,
bearing the name of Panawanskek. The Abenakis, according to La Hontan, were a wandering people. They must
have been so by necessity, for, depending upon the woods
and waters for their supplies of food, they could not long
remain in one place and subsist. That they had temporary
camping-grounds, at the mouths of nearly all the tributaries of the Penobscot, is evident from the fact that great
numbers of arrow-heads, stone axes and other Indian
implements, have been found there. But there are three
localities upon the river which, it is said, were their particular places of rendezvous-Mattawamkeag, Passadumkeag,
and Penobscot Falls. The latter locality, was, probably,
the beginning or principal point of the ancient Panawanskek. It may be, that that name, in its several forms, was
applied to the different camping-grounds; or it might have
been applied to the whole territory. At Passadumkeag
and Penobscot Falls were French forts with French and
Indian villages. The fort at Passadumkeag was destroyed,
by Colonel Thomas Westbrook in 1722-3, the inhabitants
having retired to Mattawamkeag. The fort and village at
Penobscot Falls were destroyed by Captain Heath in 1725.*
A French " Memoir," of 1723, says there were then five
villages of the Abenakis. Two were on the River St. Lawrence, near Three Rivers. "The three others are in the
"direction of Acadia, and are called, Narantsouak, on the
"River Kanebekky, Panouamsde, on the River Pentagouet,
* Williamson's History of Maine, ii., 143.




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.            5
"and Medoctec, on the River St. John. The village of
"Narantsouak is nearest New England; that of Medoctec
"nearest Acadia, and that of Panouamke nearly in the
"centre." * Narantsouak was Norridgwock; Medoctec was
about East from the town of Hodgdon; and Panouamke
was probably at Penobscot Falls, as stated before, and
opposite the mouth of the Mantawassuc stream, (near
Eddington,) which was celebrated for the immense quantities of fish that were taken there in early times.
Although the forces of Westbrook and Heath were quite
large-there being with Westbrook two hundred and forty
men-yet no mention is made by them of a village at Oldtown. Westbrook was five days examining the river and
searching for a fort between the place of his landing and
Passadumkeag; but he found none until he reached what
is now called Nicola's Island, at the latter place; and he
mentions no other village. Williamson thinks the village
at Penobscot Falls was not built until 1723-4.t He says,
"it was a resting-place and resort of the Indians, before
"the village was built."
Father Chambault wrote a letter, dated Panawanskek,
September 24, 1697, in which he gives an account of an
expedition of one hundred and twenty men leaving there,
in canoes, on the thirteenth of September, with the design
of joining the Indians of " Kinibekki, in order to form all
" together a large party which might strike a considerable
"blow at the enemy," and of its going beyond Pemaquid,
and being driven back by the enemy, who came in "five
"English vessels." I Major Benjamin Church says, in his
report of his expedition, East in 1696, that he "found
" many rendezvous and fire-places where the Indians had
"been." The pilot, "Joseph York, informed the Major,
* New York Colonial Documents, ix., 940.
t Williamson's History of Maine, ii., 143.; Murdoch's Nova Scotia, i., 235.




6              THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
"that fifty or sixty miles up that river, at the great falls,
"the enemy had a great rendezvous and planted a quan"tity of corn when he was with them, four years ago.""
It was from this place, probably, that Father Lauverjait
wrote a letter, dated "PANOUAMSKE, 8th July, 1728," in
which he says, "The insolence of the Messrs. de St. Cas"tin," [tIe Baron's sons] "has become so excessive, that
"they have no respect for God or myself. The eldest, who
" will not marry, and is not satisfied with spreading cor"ruption through the village, has now set up a public
"traffic in eau-de-vie, with his nephew, the son of M. de
"Belle Isle. They have already drowned one man by it,
"and think to destroy many others. The youngest of the
"Castins never comes into the village, but he gets publicly
"drunk, and sets the village in a flame."
Governor Pownall, with his expedition up the Penobscot,
in 1759, landed on the East side of the river, with one hundred and thirty-six men, and proceeded to the head of the
first falls, "about four miles and a quarter from the first
"Ledge" [ Chaimplain's rocks, off the foot of Newbury-street,
Bagyor.].. " Clear land on the left for near four miles." t
" The Plains," in Veazie, opposite the spot where Governor
Pownall established his bound, were doubtless the corn
lands of the Indians from time immemorial. The soil is a
sandy loam, and has always been esteemed for its peculiar
adaptability to the culture of Indian corn.
A Penobscot Indian, of some intelligence, says, that the
aboriginal name of the present Indian village on Oldtownisland is Panawanske. This Island is within the territory
to which that name was applied centuries ago; but the
village is comparatively modern. Captain Francis, an
intelligent Chief of the tribe, of some note in the former
part of this century, said that the Penobscots removed
* Drake's Indian Wars, 223.
t Maine Historical Collections, v., 382.




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.              7
from above, on the river, and established themselves there
in order to have advantages from the swift water in their
rencontres with the Mohawks their chief enemies.
Father Vetromile, in his little work, entitled Tite Abnakis,
says, that the meaning of Panawanskek is, " it forks upon
"the white rocks." * The Indians say that it means, "it
" opens or widens upon the rocks."
If there is any part of the river to which this definition
applies, it is that part at the "Head of the Tide." Great
bowlders and ledges in great numbers are there exposed,
when the tide is out, and the river truly " opens upon the
"rocks."  Between that place and Oldtown, the river is
rapid and difficult of navigation; whereas, from there, in
the direction of the ocean, the navigation is easy and
agreeable, and it really must have been the point departlance
of the natives in their expeditions down the river.
The Indians made peculiar claim to the territory extending from that point up the river, and held it, with wonderful
tenacity, for years, against the efforts of the white settlers
and the Government to obtain it.
On the twenty-first of June, 1775, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts recognized their claim to "territories
"or possessions, beginning at the Head of the Tide, on
"the Penobscot-river, extending six miles on each side of
"said river." t
Bangor was first settled in 1769, and its principal settlement, for several years, was near the head of the tide. A
truck-house was built a little below the Penjejawock T stream,
near Mount Hope; and, in September, 1775, a Conference
with Chiefs of the Penobscot and St. John Tribes was
held in that house, and a Treaty entered into which was
reduced to writing by Colonel Jonathan Lowder, then late
* The Abnakis, 24.
t Kidder's Eastern Maine, 53.
T Accent on the syllable " jaw."




8              THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
Gunner at Fort Pownall. They resolved to stand together
with "our Brethren of Massachusetts and oppose the
" people of Old England that are endeavoring to take your
" and our Lands and Libertys from us."
After the War, it was found that the Indian claim to this
tract was an obstacle to the settlement of the country. The
whites encroached upon it, and some ill-feeling was likely
to prevail unless the Indian title could be extinguished;
therefore, the Massachusetts Government commenced negotiations in order to obtain a release of it.
Massachusetts appointed three Commissioners-General
Benjamin Lincoln, General Rufus Putnam, and Doctor
Thomas Rice-to obtain a cession of the territory. They
arrived at Conduskeag, [Bangor] on the twenty-sixth of
August, 1786, and, on the same day, sent Mr. John Marsh,
the original settler upon Marsh's-island, to Oldtown, to
invite the Indians to a Conference. The answer was favorable, and on the next day, which was Sunday, twenty-one
canoes with sixty-four natives, arrived at Conduskeag.
The Conference was held on the next day.
Reverend Daniel Little, of Kennebunk, who was a Missionary in the region, at the time, was present, and gives
the following interesting account of the Conference:
" AUG. 28, at 10 o'clock. The Indians were desired to
"parade themselves in the place and manner they should
"choose.  In about ten minutes, the Commissioners re"ceived word that they were ready to wait upon them.
"Four of their chieftains, Orono, Orsong, Neptune, Nep"tonbovett, seated on the ground, close together, in the
"front on an elegant green near the river, the others pro"miscuously in the rear. The Commissioners, with the
"two Interpreters, Messrs. Treat and Marsh, walked up to
"the parade; and the Conference began in the presence of
"a number of spectators.
" Comr General Lincoln addressed them with the kind




THE ANIENT PENOBSCOT. 
"intentions of the Government in their appointment to
"settle their landed claims to mutualsatisfaction; and
"congratulated them upon the happy close of the War in
"which they had been our faithful friends and brethren.
"INDINS. We desire to bless God that you are come;
"and are glad that our hearts are linked with the Ameri"cans. We will now answer you to what you demand.
" COMMR. We wish to know your claims. [Commission"ers retired.]
"IND. The Indians signify they are ready to answer.
" COMM. [The Commissioners returned.]
" IND. We claim down to a small stream below Oldtown,
"one mile above Colburn's. If the English come nearer,
" our dogs will do them damage and make a quarrel.
" [Then the Indians handed the Commissioners a bundle of
p' apers, upon which the Commissioners retired.- Commission" ers retutrned and replied.]
" COMM. We are glad you express so much satisfaction
"in seeing us here. We wish you to remember you.relin" quished your right to this part of the country to Governor
"Pownall; and that what you now hold is by the doings
"of the Provincial Congress, in the year 1775, which is six
" miles on each side of the river, from the head of the tide.
" On this you all now rest your claims. If you hold only
" six miles next the river, when we settle our land back of
"that it will destroy your hunting-ground, which we shall
"be unwilling to do. We propose to give you a larger' tract up the river, better for hunting, and two islands in
"the Bay.
"[Commissioners give theem time for a deliberate consider"ation.]
"IND. ANSWER. We don't think it right to remove further
" up the river-we wish to do nothing but what is right.
[ The Commissioners retired for deliberation.]
" COMM. REPLY. We are willing you should hold all the
"Islands in the river you now improve, from Sunkhole
2




10             THE ANCINT PENOBSCOT
"to Passadunkee, which is three miles above Oldtown,*
"together with Oldtown Islands and the lands on all the
" branches of the river above Passquataguess,t on the West
"side, and Montawanskeag, T on the East side of the river,
"together with White-island and Black-island in the Bay,
"if you will quit your right to the six miles wide from the
"river below.
" [Commissioners leave this proposal some time for delibe"ration.]
"IND. We desire a cross line at Passadunkee for our
" bounds.
" COMM. You have our proposals from which we shall
" not depart.
"( [Commissioners leave the proposals and retire.]
"IND. After some deliberation, the Indians signify that
"the six miles was their land; and if they moved the
"bound further up, they expected to be paid for it.
" COMM. We do give you more land and better for hunt" ing. What further consideration do you desire?
"IND. We all want Blankets, Powder, and Shot, and
" Flints.
"COMM. How many blankets will give each of your
" tribe one?
"IND. Three hundred and fifty.
" COMM. You shall have 350 blankets, 200 fbs. powder,
"and shot and flints in proportion, at the time when you
"sign the papers for the ratification of the agreement.
"To which the Indians consented with general satisfac"tion. Then General Lincoln called upon four persons
"present as witnesses, which were received and accepted
"by the Indians, viz., the Rev. Messrs. Little and Noble,
"Colo. Eddy and Mr. Colburn.
* Sunkhole (now Sunkhaze) is three miles above Oldtown. Passadumkeag is from sixteen to twenty miles above.
t Piscataquis.          T Mattawamkeag.




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.            11
"The Conference closed at two o'clock, with an admoni"tion to the Indians not to spread groundless reports of
"hostile intentions, but carefully inform the Inhabitants of
"anything necessary for their safety. Upon which they
"shook hands with the Commissioners and parted with
general joy.
" The Commissioners sent on shore both breakfast and
"dinner. And the Indians regaled themselves, and then
"went in different parties up the river.
" Through the whole time of the Conference, the Indians
"never moved from the spot upon which they first seated
" themselves, and never rose except when they spoke to the
" Commissioners, till just at the close, when the four public
"speakers rose together."
In June, 1788, the Governor of Massachusetts appointed
Rev. Daniel Little a Commissioner to complete the agreement with the Indians, by delivering to them the blankets
and ammunition and obtaining their release of the desired
territory.  The Reverend gentleman, in his capacity of
Governmental Minister used considerable more formality
than he used as Gospel Minister; and, when he arrived at
Conduskeag with his supplies, he gave the following letter
of Instructions to Major Robert Treat, who acted as an Interpreter:
"JUNE 17, 1788. MJajor Treat, on Penobscot-river, near
" the head of the tide,
"SIR: I hereby, in the name of the Commonwealth of
" Massachusetts, desire you to repair, as soon as possible,
" to Indian Oldtown, or any other suitable place, where you
"have the highest probability of meeting with the Penob"scot Tribe of Indians, and inform their Chiefs that the
"Govr and Council have appointed me a Commissioner to
"bring forward and complete the Treaty the Commission"ers made with them at Conduskeag; and that I desire the




12             THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT[
"Indians, especially their Chiefs, to meet me at Condcs" keag on next Tuesday forenoon, and to receive the blankets
"which we have now brought up from Major-baguaduce,
"by order of the Governor and Council, to be delivered to
" them when they shall sign the papers for the confirmation
"of the agreement. Of your doings you will make return
"to me at Conduskeag. You are also directed to take
"some other suitable person whom you shall choose, to
"assist you, and to accompany the Indians to Condus"keag.
"DANIEL LITTLE, Comr.
" SUNBURY, ON PENOBSCOT, JUNE 17, 17887"
MIR, TREAT'S RETURN.
"SIR: I with Mr. Colburn, proceeded according to the with"in to Indian Oldtown, called Penobscot, and found all the
"Chiefs of the Tribe there, with a considerable part of the
" Tribe, to whom, agreeable to my trust, I delivered your
"message, and the Chiefs told me they would have me
"withdraw from them and they would give me their an"swer. Mr, Colburn and myself left their Council; and in
" about an hour they sent for us to return, and they told us
"they would not send their answer in writing, but they
"must depend on me to return their answer. They said
" they had considered on the matter; and that they had
"been down a number of times on public business; and
" that their young men were apt to drink, and that their
"number was large, and that it was most proper to meet
"at their town, and that they should be glad to meet Mr.
"Little and any other gentlemen, as everything might be
"done calmly and coolly with us.
ROBERT TREAT.
" SUNBURY, PENOBSCOT-RIVER, NEAR THE HEAD OF THE TIDE,
"JUNE 19, 1788."




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.           13
Mr. Little was in doubt whether he might not compromise the dignity of the Government by yielding to their
proposition. He therefore conferred with "some of the
"principal gentlemen on the river," who thought, with him,
that " our condescension with respect to the circumstances
" of place might be consistent with the honor of Govern"ment, especially as it was a condition not to be dispensed
" with without the loss of the only probability of coming to
"a Conference,"-in other words, to make a virtue of
necessity. Accordingly, he notified them that he would
meet them at their town on the next Saturday.
He felt it important to the success of the mission that
the "gentlemen of character" of the region should accompany him; he therefore made up a party, consisting of
Major Treat, Reverend Seth Noble, Colonel Lowder, Colonel Brewer, Mr. John Lee and Mr. William Colburn. The
party left Major Treat's, near the mouth of the Penjejawock stream, on the nineteenth of June, at about two o'clock;
reached Mr. Colburn's, at Deadwater, [novz Stillicater,] and
staid over night. Mr. Little gives the following account of
the succeeding transactions:
" SAT., JUNE 21. Set off about sunrise, passed a Western
"branch of the river to an island seven miles long," [JIarnsh
Is81lad,] " walked upon said island through a trackless wood
"about six miles, when Indian Oldtown, about two hund"red acres opened to view, with a thicket of houses on the
"lower point of said island, just above the great Falls.
"Immediately upon our arrival in open view of the town,
"a number of their canoes were manned with sprightly
" oung men, in which they came over (about forty rods) to
"transport -s into town. As we landed, their shore was
"lined with women and children. We walked up to their
"parade, about fifteen rods from the shore, (a walk very
"smooth, about three rods in width, lined on each side
"with a range of houses, built with poles about six inches




14             THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
"diameter, and the same asunder, placed perpendicularly
"and covered very neatly with bark in shingle form,) was
"introduced into their capital house by a waiter, who stood
"at the door; only one Sachem in the house of conference,
"who made us very welcome, directing us to take posses"sion of one half the room, 20 x 40, which was carpeted
"with fur. Very soon came in all the Sachems and placed
"themselves on the opposite side, which being divided by
"two poles from one end of the house to the other. Then
"about forty of their men of years place themselves in
"rank next the Sachems; and lastly an old man, about a
"hundred years, a former Sachem, was introduced in mem"ory of past services. They then fired a cannon abroad.
"The Sachems declare they are ready.  I addressed
"them in written words, declaring the design of my visit to
"them by the appointment of Government, which was to
"bring forward and complete the Treaty made at Condus"keag by Genl Lincoln, &c., 26 Aug., 1786; informing
" them that I had brought up the articles to be given to them,
" Blankets, &c., which they should receive at Conduskeag
"from aboard Capt. Holbrook's [vessel] as soon as they
"would sign the paper which contains the land we buy of
" them. I then stated the agreement; explained the pur"port of each paper of conveyance; and observed that
"Government had done every thing, on their part of the
" agreement, and expected that they would make their
"mark against the seals-holding them open to view" upon their doing this I should give them the parchment
"in my hand, containing the gift of land to them, together
" with 300 blankets.
" The Sachems desired to withdraw, about half an hour,
"for consideration, and returned punctually in order, ap"pointing Orsong Neptune their speaker, who addressed
" me in the following words:
"'We are thankful to see Mr. Little here, and desire to




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.           15
"'be remembered to the Governor and Council, and are
"'glad to see all well here together. The King France
"'says, we are all one-it is all peace; and the King of
"'England says it is peace, though it was War sometime
"ago.
"'BROTHERS, we are all one; we don't talk of hurting
"'one another. We live here to serve God; we all live
"'together. We and our children mean to help each other.
"'We don't mean to take any lands from you. If anybody
"'takes any land from us it must be King George, for''General Court and General Washington promised we
"'should enjoy this country. General Washington and
"'General Court told us, if anybody was going to take our
"'lands from us, they would let us know it. They told us,
"'if they knew anything was doing against us, they would
"' tell us.
"' BROTHER, now we are here together. When we were
"'at Conduskeag we had not a right understanding of
"'matters; and the young men were not all collected, and
"'we were pressed to make that Treaty contrary to our
"'inclinations.
"'BROTHER, God put us here.   It was not King of
"'France or King George. We mean to stay on this Is"'land. The great God put us here; and we have been on
"'this Island 500 years. And we have been of the French
"'King's religion, and mean to be so always. From this
" land we make our living. This is the general speech of
"' all our young men. We don't know anything about
"'writing. All that we know, we mean to have a right
"'heart and a right tongue.
"'BROTHER, we don't incline to do anything about the
" Treaty made at Conduskeag, or that writing,' [pointing
"to the paper I held open to them, with full explanation of it.]
" Then closed the first address of their chief speaker, in
"the following words, turning to my Interpreter:
"' Is not Mr. Little a Minister?'




16             THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
"'Yes,' said the Interpreter. Then turning to me, said,
"'BROTHER, Ministers ought not have anything to do
"' with public business.'
"MY REPLY.
"' FATHERS AND BROTHERS OF THE PENOBSCOT TRIBE,
" [or there were about forty men, and half of them old men,
"placed in regular order,]'It is true the Great God placed
"'you here to serve him; and it is true that the King of
"'France, and the King of England, and we all one, all
" at peace, now. But you must remember that the lands
"'you now hold is by the doings of Massachusetts
"'Government. At Conduskeag, Genl Lincoln told you,
"'in Govr Pownall's day, in a former War against us, you
"'lost all your lands in this part of the country. That, in
"'the year'75, Massachusetts Government gave you six
"'miles on each side of the river, from the head of the
"'tide, on which you must rest your claims, to which you
"' there consented; and you must remember, Gen Lincoln
"'called witnesses to what was then said and done, Colonel
"'Eddy, Captain Colburn, Mr. Noble and myself. Here
"'are three of those witnesses present.' [T'he witnesses
"C were called forward and presented.  The Indians were
" silent.]'For those two strips of land by the river, Mas"'sachusetts Government, according to the agreement made
"'by Gen. Lincoln, now gives you, up in the country, four
" times as much land for hunting, two Islands in the Bay,
"'with all the town and Islands in the river you now occu"'py, with three hundred and fifty blankets, &c. You shall
"'be assured of the enjoyment of the religion of the King
"' of France, without interruption, as long as you please. I
"'am not here to-day as a Minister, but a Commissioner.
"'I saw the Governor and Council less than twenty days
"' ago; what they then spake, I have now a right to speak.
"'You are sensible Government has fulfilled all, on their
"'part, of the Treaty made at Conduskeag. You say your




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.           17
"'young men were not present, then. Your fathers used to
"'ask for the children. The same Fathers and Sachems
"' that were there are now here. Will you make your marks
"'for your names against the seals on this paper, which tells
"'what land you give to Government, and accept of this
"'parchment, which is the act of the General Court giving
"'land to you, and then receive the blankets, &c.? Will
"'you do this or not? Answer!'
" ANSWER.
"'We dont know anything about writing. We have put
"'our hands to many papers at Albany, New York, and
"'elsewhere; but we will not put our hands to that paper,
"'now, nor any more papers, now, nor any other time for-'' ever hereafter.'
"To this explicit declaration of theirs, I replied:
"'BROTHER SACHEMS: Although you refuse to put your
"'hand to the agreement made at Conduskeag by words
"' and witnesses, yet you may expect Government will abide
"'by it, and expect the same from you. If you break
"'such solemn agreements, you must not expect prosperity
"'from Heaven or any future favors from Government;
"'but if you fulfil Treaties faithfully, in time of any future
"'want or distress, you might expect Government would
"'be kind to you and help you."'
Mr. Little made some remarks upon another subject, and
at their conclusion, the Conference closed.
"We then," Mr. Little continues, "wished them all well
" and took our leave of them at the house of conference;
"but their Chiefs asked leave of us to wait upon us to the
"water side, when I repeated a former declaration to im"press their minds with a sense of the authority of
"Government, viz: that, although they refused to put their
"hands to any paper for the confirmation of the Treaty
"made at Conduskeag, yet they might expect that Govern3




18             THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
" ment would abide by that agreement, made by words and
"witnesses, and expect the same from them, to which they
"made no reply. They provided young men and canoes
"to carry us off the Island; and, as we left their shore,
" they fired their cannon and gave us other marks of desire
"of friendship with us.
" The Conference about four hours. Not a drop of rum
"by us or them while in the town. The Conference began
"between eight and nine o'clock. About fifty, mostly their
"heads of families, who occupied one side of the house.
"Not a word spoke or a smile expressed by any of them,
"except their Moderator or orator, and a few directing
"words by the Council to assist their speaker. In the
"midst of the Conference, about twelve o'clock, the bell
" rung and they made a composed mental prayer, for about
"ten minutes. When they appealed to Heaven as given
" them a secure right to the soil, all the Sachems rose up from
" the ground on which they sat and stood in a posture, for a
"minute, expressive of an appeal to the Great God, of the
" truth of their declarations. Four men were distinguished
" as their acting Chiefs, viz: Orono, Orsong, Esq., Neptune"bovitt, Orsong Neptune. No women or children seen or
" heard through the Conference. They declined giving us
" liberty to see the Tribe paraded and numbered; but those
" who were most acquainted with the Tribe judged, as they
" appeared on the shore, at our landing, to be present about
"two hundred."
Mr. Little and his party returned, the same day. Orono,
the chief Sachem, with his wife, followed them to Conduskeag, and to Colonel Brewer's, at Segeundedunk, now
Brewer village; but he gave no encouragement that the
Tribe would ratify the Treaty. Mr. Little told him that he
should be on the river about a week or ten days, and that
any of the Sachems might renew the Conference with him,
if thought fit, at Orrington or Majorbagaduce. Mr. Little




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.            19
lingered upon the river, with the hope that the Tribe
would change their mind; but he was disappointed, and
was obliged to report to the Government his want of success.
No further efforts were made to obtain a settlement of
this business until 1796. Then, a controversy arose between the settlers and the Indians in relation to the title
to the territory above the Head of the Tide-the former
supposing it to have been relinquished to the whites. The
Government appointed another Commission to quiet the
Indians and bring the matter to a conclusion.  The
Commission consisted of William Shepherd, of Westfield,
Nathan Dane, of Beverly, and Daniel Davis, of Portland.
They succeeded in obtaining a release of all the claims of
the Tribe to the territory above Nichol's Rock, at " The
Bend," near the Head of the Tide, excepting Oldtown
Island and the islands in the river above it for thirty
miles. The consideration for the release was one hundred
and fifty yards of blue woolens, four hundred pounds of
shot, one hundred pounds of powder, one hundred bushels
of corn, thirteen bushels of salt, thirty-six hats, one barrel
of rum, and an annual stipend of three hundred bushels
of Indian corn, fifty pounds of powder, two hundred pounds
of shot, and seventy-five yards of blue woolen cloth, fit for
garments. The territory relinquished by the Indians embraced one hundred and eighty-nine thousand, four hundred
and twenty-six acres,* which was afterwards surveyed into
nine townships, in 1797, by Salem Towne.
The Indians, however, afterwards claimed title to the
territory six miles wide, on both sides of the river, above
the thirty miles relinquished in 1796, to an indefinite extent,
and assumed to sell the timber from it. To prevent this,
the Government of Massachusetts appointed another Commission, in 1818, consisting of Edward H. Robbins, Daniel
* Williamson's History of Maine, ii., 571.




20             THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.
Davis, and Mark L. Hill, who met Governor Etienne,
Lieutenant-governor Neptune, Captain Francis, and other
Chiefs of the Tribe-in all twenty-seven-on the twentyfourth of June, at Bangor.
A Masonic celebration occurred at this time, and it was
deemed expedient by the Municipal Officers, to make the
occasion memorable by a general celebration. Accordingly,
they provided for a holiday and a procession. The Freemasons gave the Commissioners a dinner at Lumbert's
then famous hotel, on Hancock-street; after which the
procession, consisting of the Municipal Officers, Magistrates
of the County, Military Officers, Rev..Thomas Williams,
Strangers, and Citizens, escorted them to the Court-house,
[" ancient City Hall"] where a large audience of ladies and
gentlemen was assembled. The Chiefs, who were rather
noble looking sons of the forest and showily dressed,
accompanied by General John Blake [Indian Agent,] Major
Treat, and Captain Webster, afterwards entered the house.
As they entered, the Commissioners arose to receive them.
Solicitor-general Davis-who, tradition says, had a kindly
regard for the fairer portion of the Tribe-addressed them.
Lieutenant-governor Neptune, a Chief of commanding figure, of great dignity of manner, and extensive influence
among his people, made the reply. The result of the conference was, that Massachusetts obtained a release of all
the Indians' interest in the territory, excepting four townships, six miles square, two contiguous to the nine townships
formerly released, and two near the mouth of the Mattawamkeag-river-one on each side of the Penobscot and
opposite each other-which, with the Islands in the river,
above Oldtown Falls, were to belong to the Indians, for
occupation, forever. As compensation for this relinquishment, the Commissioners agreed that the Indians should
have, also, for occupation, two acres of land in Brewer,
opposite Kenduskeag-point; to employ a suitable lan to
teach them husbandry; to repair their church, at Oldtown;




THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT.           21
to deliver there, in October, yearly, five hundred bushels
of corn, fifteen barrels of flour, seven barrels of clear pork,
one hogshead of molasses, one hundred yards of broadcloth (of blue and red), fifty blankets, one hundred pounds
of gunpowder, four hundred pounds of shot, one hundred
and fifty pounds of tobacco, six boxes of chocolate, and
fifty dollars in silver. At the time, they made them a
present of one six-pound gun, one swivel, one box of pipes,
fifty knives, six brass kettles, two hundred yards of calico,
two drums, four fifes, and three hundred yards of ribbon.
An annual stipend of three hundred and fifty dollars was
appropriated by the Government for their religious teacher.*
After the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, Maine
assumed the obligations of Massachusetts to the Indians,
and renewed the Treaty, at the Court-house, in Bangor, on
the seventeenth of August, 1820.
The Commissioner, on the part of Maine, was Hon.
Lathrop Lewis. The first meeting was on the fifteenth of
August, when the Commissioner made the proposition that
Maine would take upon itself the obligations of Massachusetts, provided the Tribe would release Massachusetts.
The Chiefs-who were the same who made the last Treaty
with Massachusetts-took time to consider. On the seventeenth, the Conference was renewed. The Chiefs were
dressed in scarlet coats or robes, ornamented with silver
brooches and with beads, after the Indian mode of that
day, and made quite a distinguished appearance. Captain
Francis made a speech, and, in behalf of the Tribe, accepted the proposition of Commissioner Lewis, to which Col.
Lewis replied. After the Treaty was signed, Colonel Lewis
presented, from Governor King to Governor Etienne and
Lieutenant-governor Neptune, a fine piece of scarlet broadcloth, for each a coat. To each of the other Chiefs, he
gave a silver breast-plate, upon which was engraved the
* Williamson's History of Maine, ii., 669, 670.




22             THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT,
Arms of the State of Maine. The presents were received
with great apparent pleasure.
From the facts above-stated, and from the great attachment of the Tribe to the strip of territory extending from
the Head of the Tide, up the river, we may conclude that
that was the ancient and original Penobscot or Panawanskek; and that the chief resort of the Tribe, anciently, was
at the Head of the Tide.
The French, doubtless, set the Indians the example of
having permanent villages. They established Missions;
built churches, and forts, and houses, and the Indians
clustered about them. The village on Oldtown Island
probably originated in that way. It might have been occupied by the Indians, as a camping-ground, five hundred
years, as Orsong Neptune said; but the Indian who stated
that the village was Panawanskek, and, at the same time,
stated that it was a hundred years old, was probably nearly
correct.




ARTICLE II.
THE
PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
BY HON. JOHN E. GODFREY,
OF BANGOR.








THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
AMONG the places of historical interest in Maine, the peninsula, which has at different times borne the name of
Penobscot, Pentagoet, Matchebiguatus, Bagaduce and Castine, at the entrance of the Penobscot River, is of the first.
During a period of two hundred years, from 1611, when it
was first visited by the French Jesuit, Father Biard,* until
after the War of 1812, when it was occupied by British
troops, it was at various times in possession of Indians,
Dutch, French, English and Americans, and was the scene
of many stirring and interesting events.
The easiness of its access at all seasons of the year, its
deep, capacious and secure harbor, and, withal, the beauty
of its scenery, account for its attractiveness. Its contiguity
to the headquarters of the Indians of the region, whose peltry was in great demand as an article of traffic in the early
days, caused it to be resorted to by enterprising adventurers, and its convenience for military purposes invited the
British to occupy it repeatedly in later times.
The first establishment there, of which we have record,
was that of the pilgrims of New-Plymouth. Those sturdy,
brave men, whose hard experiences among their own countrymen in England; among the people of Holland; upon
the ocean; in the wilderness with the savages, had fitted
*Jesuit Relations, i., 37.
4




26           THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT,
them for a pioneer life in a remote and inhospitable country, had hardly obtained a footing in America, before they
manifested a disposition for that kind of acquisition that
has rendered their descendants so famous, and they availed
themselves of every opportunity that offered to gratify it.
They were the first squatters in New England; and they
squatted to some purpose. In six years after they had appropriated the territory of Patuxet and established there the
colony of New-Plymouth, without authority, they proceeded
to occupy portions of the country nearly three hundred
miles distant from their colony, in a similar manner, without
apparent inquiry into the proprietorship. Having learned
that Kennebec and " Penobscote " (as Gov. Bradford wrote
it,) or " Pentagoet" (as the French called it,) were eligible
places for traffic, they set up trading houses there. In
making an establishment at the latter place, they took a
risk that always occasioned them anxiety, and in the end
much loss, disappointment and chagrin.
For many years after the discovery of the country the
title to the territory east of the Kennebec River was claimed
by the French and English severally. The latter made a
dreamy claim based on the supposition that the Cabots,
after they discovered Prima Vista, or Newfoundland, in
1497-8, might have extended their explorations southerly
along the North American coast; while the former made a
more probable claim, based on the fact that Verazzani,
under their auspices, ranged the coast from Florida to
Newfoundland in 1524. But neither could claim any
portion of the territory of New England, or Acadia, by
right of possession until the early part of the seventeenth
century. Martin Pring, an English navigator, it is supposed, visited the Fox Islands in Penobscot Bay in 1603,
and George Weymouth, another English navigator, was at
Monhegan in the spring of 1605, and while in the region
sailed less than three score miles up " the most beautiful, rich,




THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.         27'large, secure harboring river that the world affordeth."
As the Penobscot, Georges and Kennebec, each by its
friends, is supposed to answer to this description, the
English title to the country bordering on the Penobscot
River was not strengthened by Weymouth. It is not certain that either of these navigators had any knowledge of
that river. On the other hand, it is certain that the French
by the Chevalier De Monts, took possession of Port Royal,
(Annapolis,) St. Croix, Pematiq, (Mt. Desert,) and Pemetegoit, (as Champlain says it was called by the natives,) as
far as Kadesquit, (Bangor,) in 1604 and 1605, under a charter to him from Henry IV. of France, that embraced the
territory between the 40th and 46th parallels of latitude,
(from the Delaware Bay to the Gulf of St. Lawrence,) and
in the autumn of the latter year-with Champlain-explored the eastern coast from St. Croix to Cape Cod.
The first English charter was granted by James I., in
1606, of the territory between the 34th and 45th parallels,
(from South Carolina to Cape Breton,) to the London and
Plymouth companies, which was divided into two parts,
called Northern and Southern Virginia, the former being
assigned to the Plymouth company. The first attempt at
occupancy was made by the Popham colonists, at the
mouth of the Kennebec River, in 1607, within the territory
first granted to De Monts and first taken possession of by
Weymouth. The occupation, however, was not continued.
King James followed up his claim by granting a new
charter, in 1620, to the Plymouth company, of the territory between the 40th and 48th parallels, and in 1621, by
granting a charter of the territory now constituting New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and Prince Edwards
Island, to Sir William Alexander.
Notwithstanding these conflicting claims no collision betwixt the two nations grew out of them. Indeed, the exigences of their home affairs were such as to prevent any




28           THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
special attention being given to the territory of Acadia by
such administrations as those of James I., and Louis XIII.
under the regency of his mother Marie de Medicis.
In 1613, certain French Jesuits, under the patronage of
the Marchioness de Guercheville-the wife of the Governor
of Paris, who had obtained a transfer of the charter of
De Monts,-sailed with an expedition from France with the
design of establishing a mission and settlement at Kadesquit. Having made a harbor at the "Isle of the Desert
"Mountains "-as it was called by Champlain-they were
induced by the savages to remain there. They had hardly
commenced building, however,-at the entrance of what
is now called Somes's Sound-before they were attacked
and dispersed by Samuel Algal, who was on the coast in
command of some vessels from Virginia.
The French commander, M. de Saussaye, protested
against the attack as unjustifiable, claiming that he was
there under a commission from France. Argal, who had
surreptitiously come into possession of the commission,
said to M. Saussaye, that, if he would produce it he
would admit his right. As he could not, he was treated as
an usurper, and some of his people-among whom was
Father Biard-were taken by Argal to Virginia and condemned to death by the governor, as pirates, and would
have been executed had not Argal revealed the facts respecting the commission.* The governor, (Dale,) having
little respect for the French claim to Acadia, sent Argal
back to take possession of the whole of that country as
far as Port Royal, which he did. France was then at
peace with England, and this action has been denounced
as without warrant. It does not, however, appear that it
was then taken notice of by either France or England,
even by complaint or apology. But the French continued
their visits along the coast, and John Smith, who was at
* Shea's Charlevoix, i., 280, 282.




THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.         29
Penobscot in 1614, found it difficult, if not impossible, to
trade with the natives there, because, as he says, "the
"French bartered their articles on better terms" than the
English, whose "commodities were not much esteemed."
Gov. Hutchinson, under the impression that De Monts
made his exploration in 1604, says that the French could
make no better title to Penobscot than they could to
Massachusetts.* As De Monts did not make his voyage to
Cape Cod until the autumn of 1605, Weymouth had anticipated him. De Monts-with Champlain-was the first to
explore the coast from St. Croix westward to the Penobscot River, and Pring and Weymouth were the first to explore
the coast from the Penobscot Bay westward.
This brief summary of the discoveries, explorations
and possessory acts of the French and English will give
an idea how far the pilgrims were justified, as subjects of
the King of England, in taking possession of Penobscot.
It is somewhat significant that they never asked for a
charter, or even any authority from England or from any
of the companies, to occupy that country, although they
made great efforts to obtain a charter of territory on the
Kennebec, in which they at length succeeded.
It was early in 1626 or 1627 that they occupied Penobscot. In their various enterprises they had become
burthened with heavy pecuniary liabilities, from which
twenty-seven of their leading men undertook to relieve
them, and entered into a contract with the colony, that in
consideration that they should have its trade for six years
from September, 1627, and its vessels, implements and
goods, they would, every year during the time, supply the
colonists with hose and shoes of the value of fifty pounds
-to be sold to them for corn at six shillings per busheland three bushels of corn, or six pounds of tobacco, as
they chose, and pay its debts. In this transaction they
* Hist. Mass., i., 34.




30           THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
united with them four persons in England, and called the
company the " Undertakers."
Their general agent for conveying goods and transacting
outside business in connection with their trade was Isaac
Allerton, one of their companions in the first voyage of
the May-Flower. In this enterprise he was a partner, as
well as agent, and made voyages to England on account of
the company.
They were carrying on a profitable traffic with the
Indians at Penobscot-exchanging with them coats, shirts,
rugs, blankets, biscuit, corn, peas, and wampum, (of
which latter they had the monopoly in the east, and which
came to be much coveted by the natives,) for beaver,
otter and other furs, when, by the arguments of Allerton and the English partners, a young man by the name of
Edward Ashley, in whose integrity the pilgrims had little
confidence, was rather forced upon them. They knew that
he had wit and ability; they also knew that he was "a
" very profane younge man, who had lived amonge ye In"dians as a savage, and wente naked amongste them and
"used their maners." But he had learned their language,
which was a useful and valuable accomplishment.
Ashley came into the business in 1629, and took charge
of the establishment at Penobscot. Fearing to trust him
alone, the Plymouth partners caused to be joined with him
Thomas Willet, a young man from Leyden, honest, discreet and trustworthy, whom they instructed to keep him
"in some good measure within bounds."
Ashley was well supplied with goods by the Undertakers
from both England and Plymouth, and carried on so brisk
a trade with the Indians, that it was not long before he
had accumulated a large quantity of beaver. The Plymouth Undertakers, however, did not realize directly from
it as they expected. He paid no attention to the liabilities
of the house to them for supplies, but sent all his beaver
direct to England, though he still continued to obtain goods




THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.         31
from them as well as from England. Consequently he did
not rise in their favor. Nevertheless they were compelled,
through their connection with the English partners, who had
confidence in him, to buy and man a vessel for his use and
render him other assistance. But after he had been there a
year or more, he " was taken in a trape," Gov. Bradford says,
"for trading powder and shote with ye Indians," in violation of the proclamation of King James, which forbade it.
For this the authorities seized a half a ton of beaver, which
he had on hand belonging to the house, and would have
confiscated it, had not the Plymouth Undertakers proved
by his bond to them in five hundred pounds, that he was
"not to trade any munition with ye Indeans, or otherwise
"to abuse him selfe." It appearing that he alone was
responsible for the offense, and had violated his bond in
every respect, he was sent to England and imprisoned in
the Fleet. They were thus rid of him, to their great relief.
Mr. Allerton, who had rendered the colony good service
in its commencement, after he became engaged in this enterprise disappointed the Plymouth partners. He had
business of his own and so complicated it with theirs that
they believed they were great losers in consequence; they
therefore discharged him from their employ. After this he
interfered with their trade on the Kennebec; he also undertook to divert their trade from Penobscot, by joining
with Mr. Vines of Saco and sending goods to the eastward;
and finally by setting up a trading camp at Machias, against
the stipulations of Vines with La Tour. Their servants
were, however, expelled by that officer, with the loss of
their goods and of two of their men who were shot accidentally.*
After the removal of Ashley, and the dismissal of Allerton, the Undertakers had the sole control of the business at
Penobscot, which prospered and made large yearly returns.
* Winthrop's Journal, ii., 126.




32           THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
If it had not been interrupted by the French, the accumulations must have been immense. But these people took
occasion to remind them that they were not entirely secure
in their possession. In 1631, a party of Frenchmen with
a "false Scott," as Gov. Bradford styles him, in their company, entered the harbor in a small ship, while the agent
with all his company, excepting three or four servants whom
he had left in charge, was absent to obtain some goods that
had been brought over from England for the trade. They
were, at first, very civil and complimentary after the French
manner, and, representing that they did not know where
they were, that their vessel was leaky, and that they had
just come in from the sea, requested that they might be
allowed to haul their vessel on shore to stop her leaks.
Having learned from the Scotchman, who had made the
discovery, of the absence of the principal persons, and
seeing that the servants were simple fellows, they fell to
admiring the objects in the house, especially the fire-arms
that lay in the racks by the wall-side; and, expressing curiosity to know if they were charged, got them into their
hands. Finding that they were, they pointed them at the
servants, and compelled them to carry the goods that were
in the house on board their vessel. Having thus obtained
about five hundred pounds worth of goods, including three
hundred pounds of beaver, they dismissed the servants,
directing them to tell the master that " some of the Isle of
" Rhe gentlemen had been thlere,"-a taunt implying that
the French, having defeated the English under the Duke
of Buckingham on the Isle of Rh' five years before, were
still triumphantly reaping the spoils.  Gov. Hutchinson
intimates that this visit had some political significance. It
was, doubtless, simply a robbery.
Although the war in which the Isle of Rhe defeat occurrred, between England and France, was terminated in
1629 by articles entered into at Susa in Piedmont, through
the intervention of the republic of Venice, yet the treaty




THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.         33
was not fully completed until March 19, 1632, when the
treaty of St. Germain en Laye was signed. By this treaty
Acadia was yielded to France, and the question of title put
at rest. The Pilgrims, however, did not honor the treaty
with their regard, but continued their business at Pentagoet
with as much serenity as any squatters of our day would
after a six years' possession and improvement.
In this year (1632), Isaac de Razilli, a knight of Malta,
was invested with the governorship of Acadia. He built a
fort at La Have, (Liverpool,) Nova Scotia, in 1634. He
did not take possession of the whole territory until 1635.
He had under him two Lieut. Generals, Charles Amador
de St. Estienne, sieur de la Tour, who commanded east
and north of St. Croix and the Bay of Fundy, and Charles
de Menou, seigneur d'Aulnay de Chairnsay, who commanded west of the St. Croix.
In 1635, D'Aulney (as he is called by English writers)
took possession of Pentagoet. The Plymouth people had
had four years after the treaty of St. Germain to bring
their business there to a close, yet when the French came
for their own they were apparently taken by surprise,
and never was there a stronger apparent disposition to
maintain squatter sovereignty than that manifested by
them. The French chief, however, got possession of the
place, though, as the occupants represented, by stratagem.
Gov. Bradford states it thus: " Monsier de Aulney coming
"into ye harbore of Penobscote, and having before gott
" some of ye chief yt belonged to ye house abord his ves" sell, by sutlty coming upon them in their shalop, he gott
"them to pilote him in."
After he had entered the house, he made declaration that
he took possession in the name of the king of France.
"But the goods? " said Willet, the agent.
"I will take the goods of you," was the reply.
"I cannot relinquish them."
"You will relinquish them at a valuation."
5




34           THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
"I must have them for my trade."
" You cannot trade here; this is French territory; I have
"taken possession by authority; your traffic in this place
"is at an end. You shall be paid for the goods."
"If I am compelled to sell them, I can make no resist" ance."
"I will fix the prices, and if you will come for the pay
"in a convenient time, you shall receive it."
"You will pay me for the house and fortification? "
"That is a different matter. Those who build on an"other man's ground do forfeit the same. I can pay
"nothing for the building."
It was not yet late enough in Maine history to say anything about "betterments," and Mr. Willet could do no
otherwise than- submit.
D'Aulney then proceeded to make an inventory of the
goods, and fix the prices. Willet noticed, however, that he
omitted sundry articles in the valuation. After completing
the work, he turned them "out of all with a great deal of
" complimente, and many fine words," which they were not
in a mood to receive graciously. But he let them have
their shallop and sufficient food to enable them to return
to Plymouth.
Their arrival at that place and report of the capture
occasioned intense excitement among the colonists. They
re-called the robbery of four years before, by which they
lost five hundred pounds, and "now to lose house and all
"did much move them." They could not be reconciled.
They resorted to their neighbors of Massachusetts Bay,
and consulted them about employing "a ship of force" to
retake their lost establishment. These neighbors sympathized with them so far as to approve of their plan, provided
they were not expected to bear any part of the charge.
The people of Plymouth were satisfied with this, and proceeded to select a ship from the many then lying in the
harbor. They at length found one, which they thought




THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.         35
adapted to the purpose, called the " Great Hope." It was
of three hundred tons burthen, was well fitted with ordnance, and was under the command of a person who
appears to have deemed himself highly competent for the
enterprise. He is denominated "one Girling." Cautious,
and with a careful eye to their resources, they struck up a
bargain with this man which seemed to them promising
and safe. He was to " deliver them ye house (after he had
" driven out, or surprised ye French,) and give them peace" able possession thereof, and of all such trading comodities
" as should there be found; and give ye French fair quarter
"and usage, if they would yield." All this he undertook
to do for seven hundred pounds of beaver, to be delivered
to him when he had accomplished the work. If he was
unsuccessful he was to have nothing.
To insure the success of the enterprise, they sent Captain Myles Standish, on whom they relied in their military
operations, in their own bark with about twenty men, to
aid Girling if necessary, and to deliver him the beaver,
which they committed to his care, when the contract was
performed, and to give directions in regard to the house if
it was regained.
Piloted by the bark, the Great Hope reached the harbor
of Penobscot safely. Girling was so impatient to complete
his job and obtain his beaver that he opened fire upon the
place at once, as if the occupants were savages or wild
beasts.  Whereas Standish, having regard to military
punctilio, would have first summoned the enemy. Besides,
there was the order that the place should be obtained, if
possible, without resort to force. But Girling was "rash
" and heady," and would neither permit Standish to summon the fort nor summon it himself. It might have been
that he feared that the result of such a course would be a
compromise as to his pay. However, he would take no
advice, but "begane to shoot at a distance like a madd
"man," and his shot did no execution. In the meantime,




36           THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.
the Frenchmen, amused at his folly, lay quietly behind
their earth-work and "let him consume himself."
Mortified and disgusted, the Plymouth men remonstrated
with him, and to so good purpose that he brought his ship
nearer the place and sent some shot with effect. But his
powder was soon exhausted, and his guns could be put to
no further service. He was now in an uncomfortable predicament; he needed powder to enable him to get home.
He had no other resource than to consult Captain Standish. He did so, and that officer undertook to procure him
a supply at the next plantation, [Pemaquid,] but receiving
intelligence, privately, that Girling intended "to ceiase on
"ye barke and surprise ye beaver," he did not give him an
opportunity to do so, but sent him the powder, and returned to Plymouth with the bark and beaver. Girling
did not renew his attack upon the fort, and what became
of him does not appear.
This was the first semblance of a battle upon the Penobscot waters of which we have knowledge. It availed the
Pilgrims nothing, however, and, as Bradford sadly says,
" ye enterprise was made frustrate and ye French incour" aged." It was the end of their business there, but the
end of their efforts to reinstate themselves was not yet.
They again appealed to their "friends in ye Bay," informing them how they had been abused and disappointed by
Girling, and warning them of the probability of the French
strengthening themselves and becoming dangerous neighbors. These " friends" professed to give some weight to
their communication, and the governor, deputy and assistants, expressed a willingness to aid them with "men and
"munition;" and wished them to send some authorized
person with whom they could enter into an agreement in
relation to the business that would be "useful and equal"
to both parties.
In compliance with their wish, the Plymouth government sent Mr. Prence, one of their assistants, and Captain




THE PILGRIMS AT PENOBSCOT.         37
Standish, with instructions, if Massachusetts would agree
to so aid them that their joint efforts would be likely to be
effectual and would bear a considerable part of the expense, to unite with them, otherwise, as their expenses had
already been very great, to take no further action. The
puritans of the Bay were quite as careful of their resources
as the pilgrims of Plymouth, and declined to contribute
any money for the enterprise, but wished them "all good
" success in ye Lord! "
With this the people of Plymouth relinquished the expectation of regaining their post in Acadia. They were
soon after vexed to learn, that the merchants of the Bay
supplied their French successors with provisions and powder and shot, and more than this, gave them intelligence
of every thing that took place among the English, and that
the people of Pemaquid were guilty of like improprieties.
Governor Bradford gave it as his opinion that "if these
" things be not looked too, and remeady provided in time, it
" may easily be conjectured what they may come toe," and
with this oracular piece of Bunsbyism, he closed his reminiscences of " Penobscote." *
About a' quarter of a mile southerly of the principal
street of the present village of Castine is a plateau, not
large but of sufficient extent for a trading establishment.
It has a fine beach, and is protected from the intrusion of
the waves by a sweep of the shore, and sheltered from the
northern blasts by high lands in the rear. Upon this
plateau are the last vestiges of the old fort which probably
was originated by the pilgrims, enlarged by D'Aulney, and
occupied by French and English alternately, for more than
a century-" Old Fort Pentagoet," as it is called. It is a
spot full of interest to the historical pilgrim, and has attractions that bring to it, year after year, crowds of curious
visitors.
* Gov. Bradford's Hist. "of Plimoth Plantation," Mass. Hist.
Coll., iii., 4th S., 332 et seq.








ARTICLE III.
JEAN VINCENT,
BARON DE SAINT CASTIN1
BY HON. JOHN E. GODFREY,
OF BANGOR.








BARON DE SAINT CASTIN.
OF the history of the family of Jean Vincent, Baron de
Saint Castin, we have no knowledge further than that it
was a family of position in the town of Oleron, District
of Beam, in the Lower Pyrenees. Inquiries have been
made in the last quarter century, and it is said that there
are no traditions and no records to be found relating to it,
and that all traces of it were lost in the Revolution.
Jean was born about the year 1636. Whether, as Longfellow says,
"When he went away from his fair demesne,
The birds were building, the woods were green,"
we can imagine as well as the poet, but he left his home
when about fifteen years of age,* and, with other young
nobles, joined the famous regiment of Carignan Salieres,+
which formed a part of the French corps of 6000 men
furnished by Louis XIV. to Leopold, emperor of Germany,
to aid him against the Grand Vizier, Achmet (iouprougli,
who with his Turks had overrun Transylvania and was
threatening the German empire.
* Shea's Charlevoix, iii., 294, n.
t The regiment was in the war of the Fronde, and St. Castin
might have joined it then, in the Pyrenees.
6




42        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
The head-quarters of Leopold's armies were at St. Gothard. The great Italian chieftain, Montecuculi was over
them. The Turks had reached the boundary; and on August 1st, 1664, they crossed the river Raab and in full force
attacked the Imperial troops. The French were in reserve
under the immediate command of.the Count de ColigneSoligne, a former chieftain in the war of the Fronde.
Martin gives this account of the conflict: " The janizaries
" and spahis crossed the river and overthrew the troops of
"the diet and a part of the Imperial regiments; the Ger"mans rallied, but the Turks were continually reinforced,
" and the whole Mussulman army was soon found united
"on the other side of the Raab. The battle seemed lost,
"when the French moved. It is said that Achmet Kiou"prougli, on seeing the young noblemen pour forth with
their uniforms decked with ribbons and their blond pe"rukes, asked,'Who are those maidens?'
"The maidens broke the terrible janizaries at the first
" shock; the mass of the Turkish army paused and recoiled
"on itself; the Confederate [Leopold's] army, reanimated
" by the example of the French, rushed forward and charged
"on the whole line; the Turks fell back, at first slowly,
"their faces towards the enemy, then lost footing and fled
"precipitately to the river to recross it under the fire of
"the Christians; they filled it with their corpses." * This
battle closed the war.
The following year the Carignan regiment was transferred
to Canada to protect the French settlers against the Iroquois, whose depredations were of so alarming a character
as to endanger the existence of the colony. Under the
Marquis de Tracy, who had just previously been sent from
France as Lieutenant-general, the savages were reduced
to submission, and in 1666-7 entered into a treaty with the
French which was observed many years.
* Booth's Martin's Hist. France, i., 263.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    43
The great obstacles to the prosperity of the colony being
now removed and the services of the regiment no longer
required, it was disbanded. As immigration was languid,
its late members were induced to settle in the country.
The officers, being mostly of noble families, were offered
large tracts of territory called seigniories, which they generally accepted, and the rank and file became their vassals.*
These young nobles were penniless, and generally without titles. They were gentilshonmmes-had been educated as
such. They were accomplished, gallant, vain, and fitted
for society rather than for labor. To be known to labor
would be to forfeit position. Those who accepted seigniories were granted a sum of money,-as were their vassals
a smaller sum,-but not sufficient to sustain them for any
considerable length of time without labor. They spent
most of their time in hunting and fishing, not in improving
the land, and consequently fell in debt; then they sent
their children to trade in furs with the Indians and brought
them up in a vagabond way. The Intendant, Champigny,
said: "It is pitiful to see their children, of which they
"have great numbers, passing all summer with nothing on
"but a shirt and their wives and daughters working in the
fields." t
Parkman classes St. Castin with these gentilshommes, and
says: "We find him on the shores of Acadia or Maine,
"surrounded by Indian retainers, a menace and a terror to
"the neighboring English colonist." J He may have been
a geitil/homrme, but he was too enterprizing and possessed
of too romantic a nature to bury himself in a desolate
seigniory in an unpromising country. A free, adventurous
life had more attractions. The secret cause of his coming
* Bell's Garneau's Hist. Canada, i., 223.
t Parkman's Old Regime in Canada, 257.
t Ib., 261.




44       JEAN VINCENGNT, BAEON DE ST. CASTIN,
to the Penobscot will never probably be revealed.*  It
will not be too much to suppose, however, that he became
attached to Madockawando-who often visited Quebecand that his imagination was fired by the representations
of that chief in regard to the great opportunities that existed there for the hunter, and for obtaining wealth through
the traffic in peltry. Five or more years of life in a military camp were sufficient to reconcile him to a future
camp-life where there would be no restriction of his freedom. As the French were in a measure free from that
English delicacy that nauseates at intimacy with savages,
he was not deterred by any consideration of that nature.
The tribe of Madockawando was a clan of the great
Abenakis community, called Tarratines-a name given to
the eastern Indians by the English colonists, perhaps from
Taratouan, a brave Huron chief, to whom the Jesuit missionaries were indebted for protection.t Of then, Wood
says in his "New England Prospect:" "Take these In"dians in their own trimme and naturall disposition, and
"they be reported to be wise, lofty-spirited, constant in
"friendship to one another; true in their promises, and
"more industrious than many others," and so on, until
"some of our English, who to uncloathe them of their
"beaver coates clad them with the infection of swearing
"and drinking which was never in fashion with them be"fore, it being contrary to their nature to guzzell downe
"stronge drinke, until our bestial example and dishonest
"incitation hath brought them to it;.. and from over"flowing cups there hath been a proceeding to revenge,
" murther and overflowing of blood."
If the people with whom St. Castin took up his abode
had not been corrupted by the "bestial example and dis"honest incitation " of the English, and were still possessed
* Sullivan's Hist. of Maine, 93.
t Jesuit Relations, 1637, (Pere Paul le Jeune,) 67.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.        45
of the "trimme and naturall disposition" that Wood attributes to them, it is not very surprising that he should
have been content in their society.
Tradition gives to Madockawando a high character for
ability, courage and humanity. Having been more or less
under the influence of the Jesuits, the gravity and seriousness of his speech and the " show of a kind of religion"
that Hubbard credits him with can be accounted for. With
his high moral qualities and influence, and with a daughter
of whom Longfellow gives this description:
"A form of beauty undefined,
A loveliness without a name,
Not of degree, but more of kind;
Nor bold, nor shy, nor short, nor tall,
But a new mingling of them all;
Yea, beautiful beyond belief," *
-(if such there were)-and with the prospect of obtaining
riches-we may well be assured that the inducements were
sufficient to detain such a man as St. Castin in this promising country.
He married the daughter of Madockawando, probably
not long after he came to Penobscot. By some authors he
is said to have been a colonel, by some a captain, in the
Carignan regiment. He was neither the one nor the other.
He was simply an ensign in Chambly's company of that
regiment.t  The Abbe Raynal, in his history of the British
* Atlantic Monthly, vol. xxix., 334, (1872.)
t Shea's Charlevoix, iii., 294, n.  N. Y. Col. Doc., ix., 265, n.
" On the surrender of Acadia for the fourth time to the French,
"[Charlevoix, i., 462; Shea's Ed., iii., 210,] the government of that'province was conferred again on Chevalier de Grandfontaine, who
"appointed Baron St. Castin his lieutenant, by whom Fort Penob"scot, Maine, was reoccupied about 1680, [Par. Doc., vii., 214,]
"where a town at present bears his name. He married the daugh"ter of Madockawando, sachem of the Penobscots, by which tribe




46       JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
Dominions in North America, says that he was a captain,
settled among the Abenakis, " married one of their women,
"and conformed in every respect to their mode of life."
There were precedents for this, Young Biancourt, son of
Poutrincourt, and Charles La Tour, and Edward Ashley,
the agent at Penobscot of the Pilgrims, years before, adopted the habits of the Indians.
By thus identifying himself with the savages, St. Castin
became the object of their homage; and by his subsequent
course he obtained their unbounded confidence. "They
"regarded him," says La Hontan, " as their tutelar deity."
He came to Penobscot-Panawanske, as the Indians
termed it,-about the year 1667. The chevalier de Grandfontaine took possession of Pentagoet, under the treaty of
Breda, in 1670. Previously, it had been occupied alternately by the French and English. In 1674, M. de Chambly
was in command of the fort, and was not particularly suspicious of his visitors. On one occasion a stranger called
upon him and was entertained for several days, during
which time he succeeded in making himself acquainted
with the features and strength of the place. This was one
John Rhoades, whom the chronicler designates as "an
"Englishman in disguise."  He had not been long absent
before he returned, conducting to the place a Dutch privateer and a force of two hundred men, who took the fort by
surprise. De Chambly defended it for an hour, when, being wounded, he surrendered. Although these men pillaged
and dismantled the fort, they did not retain possession of
it. In the spring of 1676 the Dutch seized it again, but
were driven off by some New England vessels." For some
reason the English did not think it an object to retain the
possession; they could not have justified themsel es to the
"he was adopted and elevated to the rank of chief. Here he drove
"a considerable and profitable trade. "-[Dr. O'Callaghan.
* Hutch. Mass., i., 280, n.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    47
French if they had done so. It was at this time that St.
Castin took possession of the fort. A French memoir says
that he recaptured it as lieutenant of Sieur de Grandfon"taine, governor of said fort."  Here he carried on a
traffic with the savages and with the English, by which he
accumulated a fortune of three hundred thousand crowns.t
He was subject to many interruptions and annoyances
from his own countrymen and the English, who would have
been glad of his opportunities for'trade without standing
exactly in his relation to the savages. He appears to
have desired to be on good terms with all his neighbors,
especially with the English, with whom a contraband trade
was very profitable. Of this he did not always enjoy an
immunity, however, for it was indulged in even by French
officials, and the eyes of Louis XIV., or of Colbert and
Louvois, his ministers, were not keen enough to see clearly
through a space of three thousand miles the transactions
of these unprofitable servants.
St. Castin had a trading house not only at Pentagoet but
at Port Royal also. His business was not seriously interfered with until 1684.
In that year Col. Thomas Dongan was Governor of New
York under an appointment from the Duke of York, and,
as such, exercised jurisdiction over the Duke's possessions
in Maine. He made a claim to a portion of Acadia and
thereby occasioned some anxiety among the government
officers in Canada. The Governor of Montreal, M. de Callieres, informed the Minister of Marine, in France, that
Governor Dongan in May, 1684, wrote to "Sieur de St.
"Castin, commandant of Fort Pentagouet," claiming that
his government extended from the Kennebec to the St.
Croix river, and ordering him and the French who inhabited that district, "embracing between those two rivers
* N. Y. Col. Doc., ix., 918.
t La Hontan.




48       JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
"forty or fifty leagues of the finest country in all Acadia,"
to quit it immediately, and threatening, in case of refusal,
to have them driven off unless they would take the oath of
allegiance to the English king; but making advantageous
offers to St. Castin and the others if they would recognize
him. Callieres feared the influence of Dongan as he was
a Catholic having a Jesuit and priests along with him and
not wishing a change in religion.* This letter produced
no effect upon St. Castin, however. He was more disturbed
by the meddling of one of his own countrymen. This was
M. Perrot, a former Governor of Montreal; a person of a
grasping and quarrelsome disposition, who when in Canada
had insulted the Governor-general, Frontenac; wrangled
with and caned a fur-dealer; carried on an unofficial traffic
with the savages, by which, according to La Hontan, he
" multiplied a yearly salary of a thousand crowns by fifty;"
fought a duel in which he was wounded; and, finally, by a
quarrel with the clergy of the seminary at Quebec made
himself so obnoxious that his removal was procured to
Acadia, over which country, through the influence of his
friends in France with the king, he was made Governor.
On reaching this new field he cast his eyes over it to
learn the facilities for adding to his already great accumulations. Finding St. Castin in control of the traffic and
with an influence with the natives unbounded, he at once
applied himself to the work of getting rid of this formidable competitor, using his personal and official influence to
that end. He represented him to the government as a
seditious person, and caused him to be arrested for what
the Baron termed his "little follies with women," pretending that he had orders to do so from De Nonville, the
new Governor-general of New France.
St. Castin knew it would be in vain to attempt to compete
with Perrot at Port Royal-his place of residence-and
* N. Y. Col. Doc., ix., 265.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.     49
withdrew from there; but he was not of a nature to submit
quietly to these persecutions. He therefore wrote to the
Governor-general in July, 1687, and informed him of the
pretensions of the English; charged M. Perrot with neglect of the provincial interests, saying that he "pretended
" to prevent the English who came to seize on some wines;"
complained of his treatment of him, and referred to M. Pettit, the priest at Port Royal for information as he could not
give it without prejudice. He says it was not the little
follies that caused M. Perrot "the most sorrow, as I do not
"believe," he proceeds, " there is any man under the sun
"whom interest can cause to perform such low actions,
"even so far as to deal out with his own hand in his own
" house, in the presence of strangers, the pint and half pint
"of brandy-not trusting one of his domestics to do this.
"I see what troubles him; he wishes to be the only mer"chant of L'Acadia-and, if it please God, it may be so
" as far as I am concerned, for so long as he will remain in
" the country I shall endeavor not to displease him in that
"respect. He never has been willing to grant me a fur-'f lough to go to L'Isle Percee,* because he fears that I shall
"go as far as Quebec; neither would he allow me to send
"to Boston for millstones for a mill which the company at
"Port Royal had desired me to build for them, although
"he had promised beforehand-before we had undertaken
"to build the mill; and now that the mill is finished and
" the millstones paid for, he has changed his mind and has
"no objections to send there Mons. Villebon, who has re"turned only fifteen days ago, and who will go back to
"Boston about the commencement of September in order
* A small island betwixt Chaleur Bay and Gaspe Bay, near the
entrance of the River St. Lawrence, and called now, I, believe,
Bonaventure Island. At that time (1687) it contained a Franciscan
convent, with a few friars, and seven or eight settlers.-[N. Y. Col.
Doc., ix., 477.
7




50       JEAN VINCENT, IBAON DE ST. CASTIN.
" to bring back the bark he has built there." He intimated
that M. Perrot had much clandestine intercoure with the English, and had " whispered in his ear that if any Englishman
" came in these quarters LPort Royal] he must not speak
"of it, and that he must say qnotiinty." Thus the Baron
exposes the objectionable conduct of the Governor, apparently not able to restrain his pen when once let loose
against a person who had done him so much injury.
The wines referred to by St. Castin were a cargo conveyed to Pentagoet in 1686 by the Jane-a Piscataqua
vessel under the command of one Syuret-on account of
Nelson and others, and delivered, agreeably to the bills of
lading, to St. Castin at a quarter of a league distant from
his house, he and all the parties believing the peninsula
to be within French jurisdiction.  But James II.-then
king-was making claim to Acadia through his agents,
John Palmer and John West, who, by their zealous labors
in his behalf, had made themselves obnoxious to the people. On learning of the arrival of the wines these agents
sent a force and seized them as contraband,* thereby
increasing the dissatisfaction against them among the English and the French.
The next year they followed up this proceeding by sending a company of fifty men to take possession of Pentagoet
and all the coast eastward as far as St. Croix, agreeably
to the notice given by Dongan two years before, and forbidding St. Castin and his two French neighbors two miles
distant, as well as the Indians to whom they made presents, to regard any orders coming from the French
authorities.
These transactions caused great excitement among all
the people, and the government at Boston issued a circular
warning the New England fishermen against visiting the
* French and English Commissaries, ii., 328. Mass. French Archives, iii., 187, 188.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    51
eastern coasts lest they should be held to answer for the
depredations of others. Nelson complained to M. Perrot
of the seizure of the wines, and that officer wrote to the
French minister under date of Aug. 29, 1686, saying that
Nelson had "always traded to the coast and greatly bene"fited the settlers by the large loans he made them in their
seasons of greatest necessity," and represented that he
had St. Castin's permission to discharge his vessel at his
place, and did so in good faith; and hoped that, since he
had been permitted to supply the French who had not provisions enough to render them independent of foreigners,
the French king, maintaining his territorial right, would
cause his goods to be restored to him. In his letter M.
Perrot could not avoid making an ungracious reference to
St. Castin, saying that he " offered only a feeble resistance"
to the taking the goods.
In matters pertaining to jurisdiction St. Castin took no
part. In his letter to De Nonville, he said that he "had," nothing to answer the English-that he was nothing but
" a private citizen, merely an inhabitant of the place "but that if there had been no Governor in the country he
should have tried to prolong the affair until he had received.
orders from him.
The French government took notice of the seizure of the
wines, and through Barillon, its ambassador at the English
court, demanded and obtained their release.
St. Castin at length had the satisfaction of being relieved
from the persecutions of M. Perrot, who, because of misconduct, was deprived of his office; though he was in the
country for some time afterward, trading in his barks along
the coast, until he was taken by pirates and robbed. He
finally saved enough from the wreck of his fortune to establish his family advantageously in France.
M. de Menneval succeeded M. Perrot in the government
of Acadia. Although in his instructions from the minister
the references to St. Castin were not complimentary-hav



52       JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
ing been suggested, perhaps, by M. Perrot-yet he treated
him amicably. The Baron was to be "coerced from his
"vagabond life and trade with the Indians, &c., and his
"illicit trade with the English, which he alone follows, and
"to be urged to pursue a line of conduct more becoming a
"nobleman." *
These instructions were dated April 5, 1687. On September 15, 1687, a communication from Pentagoet informed
De Menneval, that the fort there was very advantageous to
the coast of Acadia and that thirty soldiers would enable
St. Castin to maintain himself against the constant insults
of the English, who wanted to get him out of the way and
gain over the savages; that with a little help he could
establish an effectual force of four hundred savages, the
more easily as they were natural enemies of the English
and had entire confidence in him. M. de Menneval was
directed to inform St. Castin, that "if he chose to alter his
"course and assume one more becoming a gentleman, his
"majesty would be pleased to pardon for the past by
"making a solid establishment."  This proposition was
accompanied by the remark, that "that there was reason
"to hope that he would contribute towards the construc" tion of the fort at Pentagoet, having the reputation that
" he had amassed considerable property." The Baron was
shrewd enough to comprehend these overtures. It does
not appear that he provided the government with the
means, or that the fort was rebuilt.
This fort, it is supposed, stood on the site of the Plymouth trading house of 1626-7, and was the fort of D'Aulnay.
Vestiges of it are in existence. During sixty years it had
been occupied by the English, French and Dutch successively. In 1670, Sir Thomas Temple, who had claimed this
portion of Acadia under a patent from Cromwell in 1656,
surrendered it under the treaty of Breda to the chevalier
* Murdoch's Nova Scotia, i., 174.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    53
de Grandfontaine. This was then the condition of the
fort:
On entering it, upon the left hand was a guard-house
about fifteen paces long by ten broad, and upon the right
a house of similar dimensions of hewn stone covered with
shingles. Above these was a chapel six paces long by four
broad covered with shingles and built with terras, upon
which was a small turret with a bell weighing about eighteen
pounds. Upon the left hand on entering the court was a
magazine of two stories, built of stone, about thirty-six
paces by ten, covered with shingles, very old and out of
repair. Under this magazine was a little cellar in which
was a well. Upon the right hand of the court there was a
house of the same length and breadth of the magazine,
half covered with shingles, half uncovered and very much
out of repair. Upon the ramparts were twelve guns weighing in all 21,122 pounds. In the fort were six murtherers
without chambers weighing 1200 pounds. Two eightpounders were on a plateau facing the sea. Thirty or forty
paces distant from the fort there was a building twenty
paces by eight used as a cattle house, and about fifty paces
from this a square garden inclosed with rails in which were
fifty or sixty trees bearing. fruit.
It is thought that St. Castin erected a house within or
near the walls of the fort. Tradition locates the orchard
on the upper side of the street westerly of the fort, and it
is alleged that some of the trees were removed to Sedgwick
and bore apples in 1873.
James II. was proclaimed king in Boston April 20, 1685.
On December 19, 1686, Sir Edmund Andros, who had been
in New York, appeared in Boston with his commission as
Governor of New England. The papist king was hated in
New England and his agents were hated also. All Andros's
official acts were carefully watched and criticised and the
most unfavorable construction was put upon them. He
was not a papist himself, yet he came to be as cordially




54        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
disliked as his master. He sought to faithfully carry out
the wishes of the king which was anything but agreeable
to the people of New England.
In the performance of his duties, it was important that
he should make himself acquainted with the condition of
affairs in the east; and with this view he visited Maine in
the summer of 1688. From Boston he went by land to
Piscataqua where he embarked on board the frigate Rose.
Making the journey one of pleasure as well as of business
he sailed among the islands of Casco Bay, and was rowed
many leagues up the Kennebec River, and thence by " easy
" motions" voyaged to Pemaquid. There he remained
three days, during which with his company he refreshed
himself with "sheep and soules," and inquired into the
condition of the fort at Pentagoet. Then, providing himself with carpenters, boards, nails and necessary stores,
with the intention of rebuilding the fort, he set sail for the
peninsula; and his curiosity was excited in regard to this
singular Frenchman-this Baron de St. Castin-who, it
was rumored, had three or four Indian wives, went hunting
with the Indians, had a trading-house and sold arms to
them in the wars, did "not like to be under the French
"government, desired to live indifferent;" and Andros
thought to bring him under obedience to the king.
Capt. George of the Rose, by the Governor's direction,
had sent his lieutenant to inform St. Castin of the intended
visit, whereupon the Baron closed his house and with all
the inmates retired. Andros was disappointed at finding
the place deserted; nevertheless with the gentlemen of his
company he made a thorough inspection of the establishment. In the common room he found merely a small altar,
some pictures and ordinary ornaments, which he allowed
to remain undisturbed. Elsewhere he found arms, powder,
shot, iron kettles, chairs and cloths used in traffic. These
he caused to be seized and conveyed in the frigate to Pemaquid "in condemnation of trading," as he said. He,




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.          55
however, caused notice to be given to Madockawando, that
if the Baron would acknowledge allegiance to king James
and demand his goods at Pemaquid, they should all be
restored. As the fort was very much dilapidated he concluded not to rebuild it.  On his return to Pemaquid he
summoned in all the Indian sachems and made them presents of shirts, rum and trading cloths, with a conciliatory
speech, telling them not to fear the French, that he would
defend them, and to call home all their young men and
they should live undisturbed.*
The English and French nations were now at peace.
The French claimed that under the treaty of July 7, 1670,
Acadia was restored to them, including the fort of Pentagoet, "Wherefore," says De Nonville, "it is to be noted
"that Sr Andros, Governor of Boston, ought not to have,
* Hutchinson Papers, (Randolph's Letter to Povey,) 562.
Andros went to see Madockawando himself, and gave him fourteen
blue blankets, twelve shirts, three rolls of cloth and two barrels of
wine. -[M. Pasquine's Remarks concerning Acadia, dated Versailles,
December 14, 1688.-[Mass. French Archives.
Hutchinson says that St. Castin and Madockawando both deceived the government about redeeming captives, and that the
latter "proved a most virulent enemy."- [Hist. Mass., i., 351.
There were various rumors about St. Castin's wives. Among the
evidence collected in Massachusetts against Andros was the "Ob"servation " of Edw. Taylor, Caleb Ray and Robert Scott, "that
"after Sir Edmund Andros had sent the Rose Frigott eastward and
"had robbed Casteen, a French man that had married two Indian
"women, the Indians did not come to their town but in a hostill
"manner, although before that time they used to come frequently
"and traded with them. "-[Andros Tracts, (Prince Coll.,) i., 155.
De Menneval wrote December 1, 1687: " The Sieur de St. Cas"tin is absolute master of the savages-the Canibas-and of all
"their business, being in the forest with them since 1665, and hav"ing with him two daughters of the chief of these savages by whom
"he has many children."-[Mass. French Archives, vol. iii., 281.




56        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
"this year 1688, plundered Sieur de St. Castin, at Penta"gouet, as he has done." *
Among the people of New England, the proceeding was
" esteemed not a little to have stirred up and furthered the
"succeeding troubles."  It is natural to suppose that St.
Castin was indignant against those who were concerned in
the transaction. Randolph, from whom comes the fullest
account, says " it was supposed that he went and acquaint" ed the governor of Port Royal of it." Increase Mather,
who furiously denounced Andros and called his standing
forces, "a crew that began to teach New England to Drab,
"Drink, Blaspheme, Curse and Damm," asks, " WVhat good
" did that Frigot do New England? unless this were so,' that it fetched home the Plunder of Castaine, upon which
" began the Bloudy Warr."  It is said, that Madockawando
visited Boston after the affair, and stated that the Baron
was highly affronted at it, and that "a great war was ap" prehended."  This was after James was deposed and
Andros removed. The new government at Boston, in a
respectful address to St. Castin, disclaimed any sympathy
with Andros in his treatment of him and proposed generous terms of arrangement.t It is not stated that he
rejected the overtures.
*N. Y. Col. Doc., ix., 380.
t The enmity that existed in New England against Andros made
the people glad of this opportunity of criticising him. In a tract
published by the inhabitants of Boston in 1691, entitled " The Rev" olution in New England Justified," he is charged with "involving
" the countrey in a War with the Indians, by means whereof he hath
"occasioned the Ruine of many Families and Plantations, yea the
"Death or Captivity of we know not how many Souls. For he
"went (with the Rose Frigat) and violently seized and took and
" carried away, in a time of peace, all the Household Goods and
" Mferchandizes of Mounsieur Casteen a Frenchman at Penobscot
"who was Allied to the Indians, having married a Daughter of
"one of their Princes whom they call Sagamores or Sachems;
" and when this was done, it was easie to foresee, and was generally




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.         57
It is true, that in the August afterward there was a collision betwixt the English and the Indians. The former
were establishing themselves in North Yarmouth and building a garrison on the easterly side of Royall's River. The
Indians, who complained that the treaty stipulations of
the English had not been complied with by the payment
for their corn which had been destroyed by the cattle of
the English, who were taking up their lands and fishing
berths and leaving them to perish with hunger, deemed
this new establishment a " direct encroachment," and made
an attack in which three whites and several Indians were
killed. This was followed by the arrest of some twenty
Indians on a magistrate's warrant at Saco and their imprisonment in Fort Loyal, and this by reprisals by the
Indians at Sagadahoc and New Dartmouth [Newcastle.]
Houses were plundered and prisoners taken-some of
"concluded, that the French and Indians would soon be upon the
"English, as it quickly came to pass."-[Andros Tracts, i., 118,
ii., 50.
In "A Narrative of the Proceedings of Sir Edmund Androsse and
"his Complices," by several gentlemen of his Council, is the following: " The Governours Seizing and Taking away the Goods of
" Monsieur St. Castine of Penopscot, the Summer before the War
"broke forth, which thing hath been esteemed not a little to have
"stirred up and furthered the succeeding Troubles."-[Ib., 145.
In "A Vindication of New England," this occurs: "But does
"nobody know how the French and Indians became their" [the
eastern people's] "Enemies? Who was it that Rob'd Castien (a
" Frenchman) who had married amongst the Indians? "-[Ib., ii., 50.
In "An Answer to Andros's Account," is the following: " Was
" destroyed all but four or five houses and New-Towne (New Dart"mouth) all but one by the Indians in the time of Sir Edmund
"Andros's Government, done as was supposed in revenge of Sir
"Edmund's seizing Casteen's house and taking thence all his arms
" and merchandise and household goods in time of profound peace;
"the said Casteen having married an Indian Sachim's daughter,
"and so the Indians were allyed to his Interests.-[Ib., iii., 35.
8




58        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
whom were killed,* and others sent to Ticonic [WatervilIe.]
But there is no evidence whatever that St. Castin incited
the Indians to these acts. On the contrary, the evidence
is, that he rendered the English service, which he certainly
would not have done if he had been so unreasonable as to
revenge himself on innocent people for an act of Sir Edmund Andros that they deprecated. He ransomed John
Royall who was taken prisoner on the evening of the skirmish at Royall's River.t
There were other and deeper causes for the war predicted by Madockawando. The Jesuits were scattered all over
New France. That country had hardly been taken possession of by the French before they were at their work
converting the savages. Biard was at Penobscot in 1612,
Le Jeune at Quebec in 1634, L'Allemants, the Bigots, La
Chasse, Rasle, and many others, were scattered over the
French dominions in this century. Ever jealous of Protestantism they were continually stimulating the savages
against the English, as well as using their influence with
the governors to put every obstacle in the way of their
extending their settlements into the Indian territories.
Thiery was at Pentagoet in 1688, and, although not a
Jesuit, he was a virulent enemy of Protestantism and undoubtedly incited the Indians under his charge to the acts
of violence that occurred this year.
After the flight of James II. to France, the war which
succeeded between that country and England afforded the
Jesuits an opportunity to carry out their designs against
the English in the countries adjoining New France; and if
the true history of their machinations shall ever be written,
* Williamson's Hist. Maine, i., 607 et seq.
t Maine Hist. Coll., i., 289. Mr. Willis makes this statement,
when two pages before he represents St. Castin as among the
"active and cruel agents of the period;" without giving his authority.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    59
it will doubtless appear, that they were the chief instigators of the outrages perpetrated by the savages upon the
isolated settlements of Maine, and especially of those that
were attributed to St. Castin.  "The missionaries," says
Garneau, " feared above all things the proselytism of the
"Protestants. Thus the government and the clergy had
"an interest that the Canadians should all be soldiers."
The clergy were almost the only instructors of the people,
who were ardent Catholics, and "excited [their adventur" ous spirit] to an enthusiastic degree." *
The administration of De Nonville not proving satisfactory, Frontenac was sent into Canada a second time in
1689-90. His ability and vigor rendered him popular with
the clergy as well as with others, and " his return was hailed
"by all; but by none more than the Jesuits, who had, in
"fact, for years before, labored to obtain his recall." t
The war was declared in Boston, December 7, 1689.
Frontenac at once organized three expeditions of French
and Indians, and dispatched them against the English
early in 1690. The first surprised Schenectady, New York,
and massacred the inhabitants in their sleep. The second
made a raid on Salmon Falls, New Hampshire, and was
somewhat successful in its butcheries. The third under
Portneuf, composed of Canadians, regulars from Acadia
and Abenakis, made a descent upon Falmouth, [Portland,]
or Kaskabe, as the French called it, where it was joined by
Madockawando and a large number of his tribe, who went
in canoes and were accompanied by St. Castin.
This latter party on the 17th of May, made an attack
upon Fort Loyal, which stood near the foot of what is now
India Street. Captain Sylvanus Davis was in command of
this fort. He had a force of about seventy men, with
eight cannon, and defended it bravely until the 20th, when
* Bell's Garneau's Canada, i., 317.
t Ib., i., 298.




60       JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
he was compelled to surrender. And here Mr. Williamson
implicates St. Castin in an act of the grossest perfidy. He
says, that by the articles of capitulation, " it was stipulated
"that all within the garrison should receive kind treatment
"and be allowed to go to the nearest provincial towns
"under the protection of a guard; to the faith and observ"ance of which Castine lifted his hand and swore by the
"everlasting God. The gates were then opened, when a
"scene ensued which shocks humanity. The prisoners,
"who were seventy in number, besides women and chil"dren, were called heretics, rebels and traitors, the dupes
"of a Dutch usurper, and treated with every insult and
"abuse."
It does not appear upon what authority this statement
relating to St. Castin is made. It cannot be correct. Captain Davis, who is the English authority in regard to the
surrender, says it was the " Governor of the French," who
took this oath. St. Castin was not there as a commander,
certainly not as governor of the French. That governor
was Portneuf. But Charlevoix, from whom we have the
French version, says, "Portneuf told the Governor, [of the
"fort,] that he must expect no conditions but surrender
" as a prisoner of war with all his garrison." The larger
part of the captured were left in the hands of the Indians
and were badly treated by them; but Davis, the two daughters of Lieut. Clark, who was killed in the defense, and
some others were taken by the French to Quebec and
kindly cared for. Davis said, "They were kind to me in
"my travels through the country." It does not appear
that St. Castin took any part in the attack. Certainly he
was not prominent; if he had been, some record would
have been made of the fact.
After the war was declared, as was natural, St. Castin
took the part of his country; and it was natural, too, that
the English should think that he would take advantage of
the opportunity to be revenged for the injury done him by




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    61
Andros. "The Indians informed some of their captives,"
it is said, "that Castine furnished every Indian engaged
" against the English with a pound of powder, two pounds
"of lead and a quantity of tobacco." * This may be true,
but it wants confirmation. It was known that he was aiding the French by giving them information of the situation
of New England, and by insisting in their behalf that the
English should deliver up the chevalier d'Eau, whom they
held as a prisoner, and conform to the laws of honorable
warfare, if they would have his good offices in procuring
the release of their countrymen-prisoners in the hands of
the Abenakis.t These things, with the fact that he was
with the Indians at Fort Loyal, perhaps led the " Governor
"of Boston " to think that he would be justified in procuring the abduction of St. Castin which he attempted in this
wise:
In the fall of 1692, Arnaud de Vignon and Francis Albert-French deserters-brought letters from that "very
"gallant gentleman," John Nelson, of Boston, who was a
prisoner in Quebec, to the authorities in Boston informing
them of an expedition that was fitting out to attack the
eastern settlements of the English; also of the friendliness
of Madockawando-who was there-which he hoped to
improve by proposing the establishment of a "trading
"house up Penobscot River as far as Negas," as the Chief
was not entirely satisfied with the French, and brought him
"daily advices." T These deserters had been bribed by
Nelson, and the authorities thought they would make use
of them further in the project to kidnap St. Castin. Jaques
Petipas and Charles de Loreau, sieur de St. Aubin, of
Acadia, with their families, were at this time in Boston as
* Hutch. Hist. Mass., i., 325-6.
t Monseignat to the Minister, French Documents (in Mass. Archives,) vol. iv., 113.: Murdoch's Nova Scotia, i., 200.




62       JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
prisoners. As these persons were very anxious to return
to their homes, they were sent with the deserters to bring
off St. Castin,-their families being retained. On reaching
French territory, however, instead of aiding in the arrest
of St. Castin, they concluded to trust their families to the
common sentiments of humanity, and exposed the whole
scheme to the French. The deserters were seized and sent
to Quebee where they were shot before the eyes of Nelson.
That gentleman was sent to France and imprisoned in the
Bastile, and did not reach his family in Boston again until
after an absence of eleven years. On November 9, 1692,
the chevalier de Villebon, Governor of Acadia, issued an
" edict," setting forth that he, in concert with D'Iberville and
De Bonaventure, captain and lieutenant of the "frigate
"Lagire, now anchored at the Isle of the Desert Moun"tains," had ordered the clerk of the Lord's company to
furnish St. Aubin and Petipas goods to the value of five
hundred and fifty-four francs "for the important service
" they had just rendered to Canada," by delivering up the
two deserters " who had carried letters to the English, and
"who had come back with the intention of capturing M.
" St. Castin and of giving him up to the English."
This attempt to kidnap or assassinate St. Castin, whom
Champigny describes as a " gentleman esteemed among the
" Indians," prompted Frontenac and that Intendant to urge
on the fortifications of Montreal and Quebec that they
might not be surprised." *
Nelson's letter was sent from Boston on August 26th.
In that same month Governor Phipps commenced the erection of Fort William Henry at Pemaquid; and when the
French arrived there and found that their coming had been
anticipated, the attack upon the place was not attempted.
After this, the history of the eastern coast for several
years embraces a series of depredations and reprisals al* N. Y. Col. Doe., ix., 552-3.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    63
ways attended with more or less barbarity. St. Castin
does not appear to have taken any part in these. In May,
1695, a body of Indians went in fifty canoes to Rutherford's
Island and met a body of English to mediate an exchange
of prisoners. A French memoir says " Sieur de St. Castin
"took charge of the business alone in the name of the
"Count de Frontenac.  A more attached or intelligent
"agent could not be selected." *
But arrangements of this kind were only temporary.
The belligerents had no faith in each other, and killing,
scalping and taking captive, became the absorbing employment of both parties. Fort William Henry was under the
command of Captain Pasco Chubb, and in February, 1696,
three chiefs, Egeremet of Machias, Abenaquid of Penobscot, Toxus of Norridgewock, and other Indians, visited
the fort to make an exchange of prisoners. Chubb and
his men, sore on account of barbarities recently perpetrated, rashly fell upon these chiefs and slew the two
former. The fierce Toxus, with others, escaped. This act
was a breach of good faith and aroused the already excited
savages to a state of fury. Vengeance upon Chubb was
from that moment decreed.
Not many months had elapsed before they imagined that
their opportunity had come. In the summer of the same
year, Frontenac sent another expedition-under D'Iberville, an energetic and skillful Canadian officer-to reduce
the fort. There were two ships, L'Envieux, commanded by
D'Iberville, and La Profonde, commanded by De Bonaventure. After capturing the Newport,t an English twenty-four
gun ship, somewhere off Mt. Desert, (which he sent into
St. John,) D'Iberville proceeded to Pentagoet to make his
arrangements for the attack upon Pemaquid. He had been
* Williamson's Maine, i., 641. N. Y. Col. Doc., ix., 642.
t It is not improbable that Newport Mountain derived its name
from that prize.




64        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
directed to take here a reinforcement of, savages who, it
was understood, were eager for the adventure. He found
that some had already gone on a marauding expedition,
but about two hundred and fifty were awaiting his arrival.
After completing his preparations, he gave his savage allies
a feast and distributed among them the presents sent by
Frontenac, amounting in value to four thousand livres,
which increased their enthusiasm. He then set sail. The
Indians set off in canoes with St. Castin and the priests,
Thury and Simon. Two officers, De Villieu and De Mortigny with twenty-five soldiers accompanied them.*
The fort was invested on the 14th of August. It was
formidable, and in a well selected and commanding position. It was about two leagues from the seaward terminus
of the peninsula and near the margin of an extensive
plateau overlooking the westerly harbor by which it was
approached from the sea. The cost of its construction
was nearly ~20,000, and it was the strongest fortification
in the East. Fifteen cannon bristled from its embrasures.
Its magazine was under a large rock at its westerly angle.
Ninety-five soldiers constituted its garrison, and Charlevoix
says, "if it had been defended by brave men the result of
"the siege might have been different. Nothing required
"for a long defense was wanting; the powder-magazine
" was proof against all but bombs, and even against them
" except a small spot, because a rock against which it rested
"formed part of its vault and walls, and nothing could be
"better devised or more convenient than the quarters for
"the officers and men."
D'Iberville landed two mortars with bombs and two
guns with shot from his ships at a half a league distance
from the fort. Villieu's command and the savages were
* " They embarked to the number of two hundred and forty,
"under the command of Sieur de St. Castin."-[N. Y. Col. Doe.,
ix., 658.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    65
upon the easterly side, having approached, probably, from
New Harbor which lies on the opposite side of the peninsula. Upon being summoned to surrender Chubb responded
in the tone of a braggadocio. Whereupon there was a
discharge of musketry by the savages which was answered
by a discharge from the fort. The operations of the first
day closed without result.
On the second day, the guns and mortars had been placed
in position. A second summons to surrender proving no
more effectual than the first, six bombs were discharged
into the fort and created great confusion amongst the besieged. Taking advantage of the opportunity, St. Castin,
from motives of policy or humanity, caused a letter to be
conveyed into the fort urging a surrender, and saying that
D'Iberville had instructions to grant no terms if the fort
were taken by assault, and that it might be conceived what
would be the fate of the garrison if it should fall into the
hands of the savages.
The communication had the desired effect. Chubb consented to surrender on condition that his command should
be protected on leaving the fort and conveyed safely to Boston, and agreed that a like number of prisoners should be
returned. Upon these terms the garrison marched out
unarmed, and were transported in shallops to an island
under the guns of one of the ships. The savages were
disappointed at being thus deprived of their victim, and
when afterward they found in the fort one of their people
half dead and in irons so heavy that, according to Father
Badouin, it took him nearly two hours to file them off, they
were infuriated.
The fort was taken possession of by De Villieu and his
soldiers; and was shortly after dismantled and destroyed.
Chubb and his men were conveyed to Boston, and he was
thrown into prison for surrendering the fort without making defense. After several months he was liberated,
and returned to his family in Andover, where he was
9




66        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
found and murdered by the Indians about two years afterward.
We know little of the history of St. Castin after the capture of Pemaquid. Madockawando died in 1697-8, and
St. Castin disappeared from the country soon afterward.
On October 4, 1698, Villabon says, that Alden bought furs
of, and sold goods to, a son-in-law of St. Castin and three
other Frenchmen at Pentagoet.* No mention is made of
the Baron. On June 21, 1699, M. Tiberge said that Castin
traded with the English. This might have been his son
Anselm who succeded him at Pentagoet.t
On November 10, 1686, M. De Nonville wrote from Quebec to the Minister respecting " Sieur de St. Castin, who is
" a gentlemanly officer of the Carignans; he is very daring
" and enterprising... They assure me that he has re"cently come into the inheritance in France of ~5000 a
" year, that he is a man of sound understanding, hating the
"English, who fear him." Mi. de Brouillan, who was appointed Governor of Acadia on the death of M. de Villabon,
wrote from Port Royal on October 30, 1701, to the Minister, " The Sieur de St. Castin, whom they accuse of carrying
" on trade with the English, returns to France to render an
" account of his conduct. It is certain that he has kept in
"the interest of France the savages of the frontier where
"he dwells." He probably left America about that time.
In 1703, several Englishmen plundered his son's house and
"made great spoil" while professing friendship for him.:
One of the Baron's daughters said to Colonel Church, who
took her prisoner in 1704, "that her husband was gone to
* Murdoch's Nova Scotia, i., 243.
t Ib., 244.
{ Hutch. Hist. Mass., ii., 126.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.      67
"France to her father." * In 1701, D'Iberville was planning an expedition to attack Boston the following year,
and suggested that on leaving France, in order to make
arrangements, he would pass through the villages of " Pan" ahaamsequit" [Penobscot] and " Cainbequi," and consult
with " Mr. de St. Castin, who is thoroughly acquainted with
"Boston." t It is uncertain whether he referred to the
Baron or his son. At this period, the historians confound
them with each other.
If St. Castin lost the appellation of gentillomme by becoming heir to a fortune of ~5000 per year so early as
1686, it is somewhat remarkable that he delayed his return
to France to secure it for nearly twenty years. Yet for
some unaccountable reason it was so; and the probability
is, that in consequence of this delay his estate was lost
altogether to himself and his family. He must have died
long prior to 1708, for MI. de Subercase, in that year, wrote
from Port Royal to the minister, that his son was kept out
of his estate in France on pretense of illegitimacy, notwithstanding he had full evidence of his heirship by the
certificates of the missionaries; being resisted by the Lieutenant-general of Oleron, the first chicaner of Europe, who
had for long years enjoyed the property.:
While it is undisputed that St. Castin for many years
lived disreputably among the Indians, yet there is reason
to believe, that after the year 1687, he changed his habits
and lived quite as respectably as his sovereign did under the
tutelage of Madame de Maintenon. That he was early lawfully married to a daughter of Madockawando is probable
from the fact that his son had the priests' certificates of his
* Drake's Indian Wars, 261.
t N. Y. Col. Doe., ix., 731.
t Murdoch's Nova Scotia, i., 304. Ib., 337. In October, 1713,
Anselm St. Castin had given up his views of family property in
France.




68        JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
legitimacy. By a statement of De Menneval, dated December 1, 1687, it would appear that he then had no wife,
as he "promised to quit the life he had led up to" that
time,* and, as by another statement of the same officer
dated September 10, 1688, he was then married.1- In 1693,
he was living at Pentagoet with his wife and one child.
The idea prevailed in New England that he had several
wives at one time, but the fact that he was a Roman Catholic precludes that belief, unless he abjured his religion and
justified himself under some " Latter-day " savage regulation. Of this there is no evidence.
By the French, St. Castin was esteemed "a man of
" sound understanding," "daring and enterprising," "a
"zealous and intelligent agent," and "quite solicitous of
"honor."  By the English he was " suspected to be a false
"friend.":T Mr. Parkman's representation that he was a
"terror and a menace " is hardly sustained. That he was
the former, after Andros's visit to Pentagoet, is true;
but this appears to have been the effect of suspicion
merely. He might have entertained unfriendly feelings
towards the English, but they were not manifested by any
act of cruelty. His redemption of Royall, and the part he
took at the siege of Fort William Henry, are evidence that
he was humane and not revengeful. And the French writers, when they say that he hates the English, say almost in
the same breath, that he makes presents to the savages to
restrain them from taking vengeance upon the English.
He perhaps did hate Andros, and he disliked Mi. Perrot,
but the worst thing he did to the latter has a little the ap* Mass. French Archives, iii., 281. He was in the forest with
the savages since 1665, " having with him two daughters of the chief
"of these savages by whom he has many children."
t Ib., iii., 317. "He has quitted his traffic with the English, his
"debauchery with the savages; he is married."
I Hutch. Mass., i.. 325.




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.    69
pearance of a severe practical joke. He was instrumental
in the purchase of two vessels by that gentlemen, and when
they were purchased, he (M. Perrot) could not man them.
Not an inhabitant would go on board, and he was obliged
to employ English fishermen. These stole a greater part
of his fish, and, in order not to fail, he was compelled to
return the vessels to the seller and relinquish the fish that
remained. Had St. Castin wished him success, with his
influence and wealth, he could very readily have contributed
to it; he probably used them in another direction.
St. Castin was evidently not mean or ungenerous. Some
pirates, having taken a fly-boat of twenty-two tons burthen
belonging to him, gave the crew a long-boat that they had
stolen to enable them to get to Port Royal. St. Castin
afterwards recovered his fly-boat, and made amends to the
owners of the long-boat for its use or loss.
The people of New England were wrong in suspecting
St. Castin of a disposition to injure them. His object in
the country was money. He was a shrewd business man,
and was successful in his contraband trade with his English neighbors. His interests were on the side of peace,
and he must have deprecated a war or anything that would
interrupt his business intercourse with them. From some
cause, the Tarratines were more inclined than the other
tribes in Maine to be on friendly terms with the English during the St. Castins' connection with them. We have seen
that Madockawando lent a willing ear to Nelson at Quebec,
and there can be hardly a doubt that St. Castin had an influence with that chief, whom I3. Pasquine characterizes as
" a brave, upright man, of acute and subtle understanding,"
and gave him and the tribe to understand that it was not
for their interest to be unnecessarily unfriendly towards
them. His idea was, as Randolph says, to " live indifferent,"
that is, as a neutral, and maintain a good understanding
with all his neighbors.
So far as he could be consistently with his business, he




70         JEAN VINCENT, BABON DE ST. CASTIN.
was true to his position of " gentilhomnme."  He would not
labor upon the soil; did not till it; and he kept no
cattle. He and Renauld and Deslines had houses, but
they were burned in the war, and he was obliged to bury
his treasure and conceal it in out-of-the-way places to secure it against the depredations of the vagabonds who
infested the peninsula.*
Matilda, the mother of his son Anselm and daughter,
Anastasia, (who married Sieur Alex'r Belleisle,) was probably his first wife, and the daughter of Madockawando.
Her Christian name only appears in the record of those
children's marriages. The name of his second wife has
not been perpetuated.   Marie Pedianskge is the recorded
name of the mother of his daughter Therese, who married
Philip de Pombomcou. Marie may or may not have been
the Baron's second wife.t    La Hontan, who was in the
* In a memoir of M. Tiberge, dated Fort Naxua, (Fredericton,)
October 1, 1695, he says: "I have known but three inhabitants of
"the River PentagGet, namely, M. de St. Castin, who is said to be
"worth more than 40,000 livres; a man named Renauld, who is
" employed by the same De St. Castin in the capacity of a servant,
" and a man named Deslines. This last has a wife and children"so has also De St. Castin, but they are squaws, which they have
"kept for a long time and afterward married. They all three had
"some habitations, but since the war the English have burned them,
"so they are now obliged to hide their merchandise far in the woods
"so as to have them secure from plunder."
A French memoir in the Massachusetts Archives says that in
1693, the inhabitants of Pentagoet were St. Castin, aged fifty-seven,
his wife and one child; Jean Renauld, aged thirty-eight, his wife
and four children; and Des Lines, aged forty, his wife Jeanne
Granger, and three children.
In 1689, there were there, one priest; one married man; one boy
under fifteen years of age; and one married woman.-[Mass.
(French) Archives, iii., 379.
t In the French records in the office of the Provincial Secretary
of Nova Scotia, in Halifax, is the following:




JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.         71
country from 1683 to 1694, says, "he has never changed
" his wife, by which he meant to give the savages to under" stand that God does not love inconstant folks."  He had
many children, some of whom, if not all, were quite well
educated.
While, according to the English standard, St. Castin was
not a moral man during the earlier years of his residence
at Penobscot, whatever it might have been in the opinion
" 31 October, 1707, Gaulin, missionary priest of the Seminary of
" Quebec, being at Port Royal, married (F. Justinian being absent)
" Anselm de St. Castin, Baron de St. Castin, son of Sieur Jean Vin"cent, Baron de St. Castin, and of dame Matilde, of the parish of
"the'Sainte Famille' at Pentagouet, and damoiselle Charlotte
"d'Amours, daughter of Sr Louis d'Amours, ensign of a company at
"Port Royal, and of dame Marguerite Guyon, of the parish of
"Quebec.
[Signed] "ANSELM DE ST. CASTIN,
"CHARLOTTE D'AMOURS DES CHAUFOUR,
"SUBERCASE, BONAVENTURE,
"D'AMOURS DE CHOUFOURS
"DE LA BOULARDERIE,
"AN. GAULIN, PR. MISS."
"4 December, 1707, married, le Sieur Alexandre le Borgne de
" Belleisle, son of le Sr Alexandre Belleisle, ecuyer, seigneur en Partie
"de l'Acadie, and of dame Marie de St. Etienne, to the damoiselle
"Anastasie de St. Castin, fille du Sieur Vincent, ecuyer, Baron de
"St. Castin et de dame Mitilde,'en presence des temoins soub"' signes, fait a Pentagoet,'
" BELLEISLE,
"ANASTASIE DE ST. CASTIN,
"ANT. BORDENEAU,
"ANSELME DE ST. CASTIN,
"GAULIN, PRETRE MISSIONAIRE."
"4 December, 1707, Philip de Pombomcou is married to Therese
"de St. Castin, daughter of the Baron and of dame Marie Pidi"anske."




72       JEAN VINCENT, BARON DE ST. CASTIN.
of the French, yet he was a religious man; and, in the
street language of our day, he was a smart man. He was
very generous-made large presents to the Indians-and
his doors were ever open to the stranger and the wayfarer.
The Romish priests found a home at his residence, which
they designated as the "Parish of the'Sainte Famille,'"
and probably repaid his hospitality by educating his children.




ARTICLE IV.
"CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
BY HON. JOHN E. GODFREY,
OF BANGOR.
10








"CASTINE      THE   YOUNGER."
THE Baron Jean Vincent de St. Castin came to the
country once styled Panaouamske, now Penobscot,
about the year 1667. He intermarried at different times
with native women, the first of whom is supposed to have
been a daughter of the celebrated Tarratine Sachem,
Madockawando. It was rumored among the English that
he had three or four Indian wives at the same time.*
There is no proof of this. He lived with different Indian
women; but he never changed his wife.t By his first wife,
Matilde, he had several children; by his last, Marie
Pidianskge,j he had one or more. Several of his daughters
were well married to Frenchmen. Anastasie, a daughter
by Matilde, married Alexander le Borgne de Belleisle, and
Therese, a daughter of Marie, married Phillipe de Pombomcoup, a grandson of Charles Amador de la Tour and
Jeanne Motin D'Aulney.~ There were other daughters.
He had also two sons, Anselm, by Matilde, and Joseph
Dabadis. The historians, Sullivan and Williamson, confound these with each other under the name of "Castine
the younger." 11
* Hutchinson Papers, 563; Andros Tracts, i., 155. Mere rumor.
t Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, i., 141, 205.
t Probably.
~ Bangor Centennial, 25.
|| Sullivan's History of Maine, 262; Williamson's History of




76            c"CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
Anselm was the more distinguished of the two and is
sometimes designated the Baron de St. Castin; consequently he is confounded with his father by some historians.
He first comes under our notice at the siege of Port Royal,
in 1707.
Daniel Augur de Subercase was then Governor of that
place. In the spring, Governor Dudley, of Massachusetts,
sent several ships with a force of about fifteen hundred
men to reduce it. Colonel March was in command of the
expedition, and, after several attempts, returned to Casco
Bay without having accomplished any thing.
Anselm de St. Castin was conspicuous in the defense.
He was sent by Subercase with a detachment, consisting
of eighty French and Indians, to intercept a force of three
hundred English who were in pursuit of cattle. He had
the direct command of the Indians. An ambuscade had
been formed, but with six of his Abenakis, or Tarratines
from Panaouamske, he left the main body and made an
advance in sight of the enemy and killed six of their men;
then rejoining the command he charged the English so
resolutely that their whole force was driven back to camp
in disorder. Sixty Canadians had arrived at Port Royal,
a short time before, and rendered good service in the
defense; but Subercase reported to the Minister that but
for the presence of the Baron de St. Castin he could not
have answered for the result.*
The failure of this expedition created great dissatisfaction in Massachusetts; Colonel March and his subordinates,
Colonels Wainwright and Appleton, were much censured.
Governor Dudley, however, was not discouraged. He
strengthened the force and sent it back, with the same
Maine, ii., 69, 144; Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, ii.,
246, 286.
* Shea's Charlevoix, v., 194; Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia,
i., 289.




"CASTINE THE YOUNGER."            77
officers, under three members of the Council-Colonels
Hutchinson and Townsend and Mlr. Leavett-who had as
full powers to superintend and direct as the Governor
would have had if he had been present.
On the twentieth of August, the ships were again before
Port Royal; but neither officers nor men were in proper
condition of health or spirits to insure favorable results;
indeed, many of them were raw recruits. On the other
hand, the French force, though small, was in good fighting
condition, and with the accomplished soldier, Subercase, in
command, well prepared to receive the invaders. The
Governor placed great reliance on St. Castin and sent him,
with one hundred and fifty men, to ambuscade the enemy.
This he did effectually. When they had come within
pistol shot, he poured upon them three successive volleys
which caused them to fall back toward their boats. Subercase sent Boularderie to reinforce St. Castin, with one
hundred and fifty men and orders to follow the enemy if
they attempted to re-embark, and followed, himself, with
one hundred and fifty men, leaving Bonaventure in command of the fort. Burning with impatience, Boularderie
made too swift pursuit, and with but sixty or eighty men
fell upon the enemy leaping from one entrenchment into
another until he was disabled by two sabre-cuts. Anselm,
with one Antoine de Salliant, followed eagerly and took
Boularderie's place when a hand-to-hand conflict with hatchets and clubbed muskets ensued, in which from twelve
hundred to fifteen hundred English were driven fifteen
hundred paces towards their boats. Anselm and Antoine
were both wounded and disabled, and their men retired
towards the woods. The English officers, seeing this, rallied
their men and pursued until the French faced about to
receive them, when they withdrew after firing several
volleys. Shortly after, Subercase sent Granger, a brave
inhabitant, with JBoularderie's detachment to attack the
English, who did not wait but re-embarked in haste and




78             "CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
confusion; and on the first of September they were on
their return to Massachusetts.*
St. Castin was wounded severely in the thigh. He
gained great credit for his gallantry. About two months
afterwards he was married, by Father Gaulin, to Charlotte
d'Amours, daughter of Louis d'Amours, Sieur de Chaffours,
at Port Royal, in the presence of Subercase, Bonaventure,
the bride's father, and Boularderie.t Whether, like Desdemona,
"She loved him for the dangers he had pass'd,"
no Shakespeare informs us.
Between the years 1707 and 1710 the French manifested
a strange indifference to the military necessities of Acadie;
and, when Governor Dudley in the latter year sent General
Nicholson, with thirty-six ships and thirty-four hundred
men, again to invade Port Royal, it had neither means of
subsistence nor defense. Many of the people were so
destitute that Subercase gave them his shirts and sheets
from his bed to keep them from suffering.
This officer made such preparations for defense as he
was able, but more probably had his mind upon terms of
capitulation.  Nicholson was four days in landing and
making preparations for the attack, during which time
there was some firing on both sides but no great loss on
either. After his arrangements were completed, Nicholson
summoned the garrison to surrender. Subercase made a
virtue of necessity and obtained very favorable terms; and
the successful General was obliged to give food to the
people to save them from starvation.
Anselm  de St. Castin was with Subercase, and Major
* Shea's Charlevoix, v., 199; Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, ii., 155.
t Bangor Centennial, 25; Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, i.,
163, 171, 329.




"CASTINE THE YOUNGER."                  79
Livingston * with Nicholson. As it was necessary to submit
the Articles of Capitulation to Vaudreuil, the Governorgeneral of New France, and to make arrangements for an
exchange of prisoners, these two officers were selected by
the several commandants to go as messengers to Quebec
for the purpose.
They left Port Royal about the middle of October. On
arriving at Pentagouet-now Castine-Livingston became
the guest of St. Castin, who resided there in what the
Priests called the "Parish of the St. Famille," and was
hospitably entertained by him. When every thing was in
readiness, they took three Indian guides with canoes and
proceeded up the Penobscot-river, intending to make the
journey as far as possible by water.
Presently, they came to the island of Lett, t where they
met with fifty canoes and twice as many Indians, besides
women and children, on their way from Winter Harbor,
near the mouth of the Saco River.      There had been with
them two English prisoners, taken at Winter Harbor a little
before; but one of them, whom his captor had taken with
him, on a hunting excursion to a neighboring island,$ had
* Robert, afterwards proprietor of Livingston Manor, N. Y.
t The circumstances render it more probable that this was
Orphan, or Wetmore's Island, (Verona) than any other. A party of
savages had, a short time before this, been engaged in hostilities
against the English, not far from Winter Harbor, and killed three
whites and taken six captives. This portion of the party was
probably on its way to winter quarters.
Mr. Williamson thinks Lett was, probably, Oldtown. I cannot
see the grounds of the probability.
t Probably Brigadier's Island.
NOTE.-Since this article was written, Ex-Governor Washburn, in a note in
the volume containing his able centennial address at Orono, claims "Marsh
Point," at Orono, on Marsh Island, as the place of this occurrence, and that the
prisoner made his escape from Oldtown or Osron Island, which lies above Marsh
Point. Is it probable that he could have avoided capture in his voyage down
the river in view of the hundred Indians? Orphan Island was a resort of the




80              "CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
made his escape with the savage's gun and canoe. It
would not be a great stretch of the imagination to suppose
that the refreshments of which this son of the forest had
partaken rendered him oblivious to the movements of his
prisoner; and that the latter had no conscientious misgivings as to his right to take advantage of the means and
opportunity afforded him to get back to Winter Harbor.
However this might have been, the savage, two days after
the arrival of St. Castin and Livingston, found his way
back to his party, without canoe, captive, or gun, threatening vengeance against all Englishmen; and when he saw
Livingston he rushed upon him, and seizing him by the
throat, raised his tomahawk to dispatch him, and would
have done so had not Anselm thrown himself between
them. This accident was the occasion of the detention of
Livingston, by the Indians, for several days; but St. Castin's influence was such that he procured his release, and
they were on the route again by the fourth of November.
On the next day after they had started again, the Major's
canoe was overset and lost, with his gun, and one of the
guides was drowned." Soon after this, the ice began to
form and so chafed and tore the bark of the canoes that
the party was obliged to leave them and perform the
remainder of the journey on foot.t  Guided by the compass, they passed over plains and mountains, around the
heads of rivers and lakes, through forests of pine-wood
and under-wood, through thickets of spruce and cedar,
nearly impenetrable-at times wading through deep snows.
Indians, and is just the place they would be likely to make a long tarry at in
going up the river, especially when time was of little value to them. I am still
of the opinion that Verona was the Island of Lett.
* This was probably soon after they reached the head of the tide,
where the rapids first appeared. It was about a day's voyage by
canoe, from Orphan Island, at that season of the year.
t They might have followed up the Stillwater branch, and crossed
the country by Moosehead Lake.




" CASTINE THE YOUNGER."           81
They were in storms and fogs for more than a fortnight,
during which time they never saw the sun. Six days before
they reached any human habitation their supplies were
exhausted, and they were obliged to resort to moss, leaves,
and dried berries, to sustain life.
It was a long and perilous journey. They did not arrive
at Quebec until the sixteenth of December, when they
were nearly exhausted by their labors and privations.
The Governor received them handsomely, and made every
provision for their comfort and recuperation.
The news of the fall of Port Royal caused Vaudreuil
much mortification. The French who remained in Acadie
were "utterly at the mercy of the conqueror;" and the
capitulation had "somewhat cooled the Indians," he said;
but he did not abandon the hope of recovering the lost
territory. He immediately set to work to regain the confidence of the savages and to reestablish the French
influence over them; for, retaining their ancient rights in
the territory, they could aid him greatly in his designs. It
was important to have some one invested with French
authority among them upon whom he could rely, and one
who would be least obnoxious to the English. He selected
Anselm de St. Castin. M. Raudot, Intendant of Justice,
Police and Finance, concurred with him in the propriety of
the appointment. In his letter to the Minister, M. de
Pontchartrain, Yaudreuil says: "M. Raudot and I have
"concluded that we could do no better for the public ser"vice than to send Baron de St. Castin immediately back,
"the rather as the principal affair at present regarding his
" Majesty's service in those parts is the management of the
" Indian allies there, over whom Sieur de St. Castin possesses
"great influence; but as it is proper to compensate him, in
"some sort,- for the loss he has just experienced at Port
"Royal, and also to authorize him to command the French
"in those parts, as well as the Indians, I have given him,
"subject to the King's pleasure, a commission of Lieuten11




82             " CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
"ant, and M. Baudot has handed him the emoluments
"thereof." X
As Subercase, two years before, had written to the same
Minister in relation to St. Castin-informing him that he
was kept out of his estates, in France, under pretence of
illegitimacy, although he had the certificates of the missionaries and full evidence of his heirship —"this poor
"boy," he says, "has to do with the first chicanier of
"Europe, and Lieutenant-general of the town of Oleron,
"in Bearne, who, for long years, enjoys this property"t
and recommending that he be made Lieutenant-general of
Pentagouat, with a salary-that official was prepared to
approve the action of Vaudreuil, in approving the appointment.
Anselm's commission was dated the first of January,
1711.  His rank was that of Lieutenant en pied. The
Marquis d'Alogny, Commandant of the troops, was ordered
to recognize him as such, and to pay him his salary.: As
the missionaries were a power among the savages, Yaudreuil impressed it upon those in Acadie to be unremitting
in their endeavors to retain them in the French interests.
After Anselm had returned to Pentagouet, he and Father
Gaulin conceived the project of retaking Port Royalwhich was under the command of Colonel Vetch-and
St. Castin sent forty Abenakis, under one l'Aymalle, to
assist in the enterprise. The party obtained some advantages over the English, of all which Yaudreuil was duly
informed by Father Felix Cappes, and commenced making
preparations for sending aid. It was shortly afterward
* New York Colonial documents, ix., 854.
t Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, i., 304. This language
implies that Anselm's father was dead. He was in France with
the husband of his daughter, in 1704.-[Murdoch's History of
Nova Scotia, i., 272; Church's Indian Wars, 261.
$ Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, i., 329.




"CASTINE THE YOUNGER."            83
reported that the English were making extensive preparations for the conquest of Canada; and the project was
abandoned.*
The Treaty of Utrecht, by which France surrendered to
England all Acadie, with Port Royal-afterwards called
Annapolis Royal, now Annapolis-and Newfoundland, was
signed on the eleventh of April, 1713. Cape Breton and
the other islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence remained to
France. The rights of the Indians were not affected by
the Treaty, and Anselm's authority continued to be recognized by them. He had now abandoned the expectation
of recovering his family estates in France, to give his
attention to affairs at "Panamske and Narantsouak." 
Father Rasle, a learned Jesuit, had been with the
Indians, at Narantsouak, since 1688. Father Lauverjait
was with the Indians at Panamske, from 1718. While
Toxus, a fierce war-chief of the Norridgewocks, was living,
the Priests had his aid in keeping the Indians true to the
French; but in 1721, he was dead; and the influence of
the English increased so rapidly that Rasle became
alarmed and wrote to Vaudreuil informing him of the fact.
The latter immediately procured a delegation from the
Abenakis of St. Francois and Becancour, to accompany
Father La Chasse, the Superior-general of the Missions,
to visit their brethren at Narantsouak and Panaouamske
to encourage the friends of the French among them.
In August of that year, the French succeeded in getting
together about two hundred Abenakis from Norridgewock
and Penobscot, and they appeared at Arrowsic island in
ninety canoes where they had a conference with Capt.
Penhallow who commanded the English there. The object
of their visit was to demand that the English should
remove from certain lands, on which the Indians alleged
* New York Colonial Documents, ix., 858, 859
t Murdoch's History of Nova Scotia, i., 337.




84             " CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
they had encroached, within three weeks. The demand
was accompanied by a threat that their cattle should be
killed and their houses burned if they failed to comply.
La Chasse and Rasle were leading spirits evidently in
this conference. The expedition was deemed hostile by
the English; and, as Anselm St. Castin was present with
his people in the dress pertaining to his office, he was
considered as partaking of the spirit of the party.
When the Government at Boston was informed of the
presence of St. Castin at Arrowsic, an order was issued
for his arrest.
When he had returned to Pentagouet, and was attending
to his own affairs, an English vessel commanded by a
person with whom he was acquainted anchored quietly in
the harbor. Being invited on board by the Master, to
partake of some refreshments, he went unsuspectingly for
there was nothing apparently that indicated hostile intent.
He had hardly got on board, however, before, to his great
astonishment, the sails were hoisted and he was on his way
to Boston,! On his arrival there, he was cast into prison."
This proceeding was the occasion of much unfavorable
comment in Massachusetts. There were those who thought
it no crime in St. Castin to be with the Indians at Arrowsic, and that to abduct him from his home, in a part of the
country over which Massachusetts had never exercised
jurisdiction as against his people, and imprison him for no
particular crime, was unjustifiable. The House of Representatives, however, ordered that he be tried by the
Superior Court of the County of Suffolk. The Council
did not concur in this, but voted to send for witnesses that
the Court might determine the proper course of procedure.
This was not agreeable to the House, and the case stood.
A Committee was afterwards appointed to examine St.
Castin; and he so well satisfied them that wrong had been
* Shea's Charlevoix, v., 274.




" CASTINE THE YOUNGER."            85
done him by these proceedings, that they reported that he
should be discharged. In reply to interrogatories, he
said: "I received no orders from the Governor of Canada
"to be present at Arrowsic. I have always lived with my
"kindred and people-my mother was an Abenakis-I was
"in authority over them. I should not have been true to
"my trusts if I had neglected to be present at a meeting
"wherein their interests were concerned. My uniform is
"required by my position, which is that of a Lieutenant
"under the French King. I have the highest friendship
"for the English. My disposition is to prevent my people
"from doing them mischief; and my efforts shall be to
"influence them to keep peace.*
After the disagreement of the two Houses, there was a
growing sentiment in favor of the captive. The Governnlent wanted peace with the Indians; to have punished
St. Castin as a traitor would have destroyed all prospect
of it; their jurisdiction over him was, at least, questionable; and to try him in one country for a crime committed
in another was improper. The report of the Committee
was readily accepted by both Houses and Governor Shute
approved the action. Vaudreuil had previously written to
Governor Shute, complaining of St. Castin's imprisonment
and demanding his discharge, but received no reply.t
St. Castin was imprisoned in December, and released
after five months' confinement. By some he was considered a "very subtle fellow," and as having influenced the
Committee by heartless professions. There seems to be
no doubt however, that whatever his feelings might have
been towards the English he was desirous to keep his
people at peace; and he encouraged their disposition to be
on terms of friendship with them; and neutralized in a
* Shea's Charlevoix, v., 274. Williamson's Hist. Maine, ii., 108.
t Hntchinson's History of Massachusetts, ii., 246. Shea's
Charlevoix, v., 275.




86             " CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
great measure the efforts of Lauverjait in the other direction.
Rasle was killed in 1724, and, believing it a good time to
propose a Treaty with the Indians, the English sent a
hostage and a captive on their parole to the Penobscots to
sound them upon the subject, in the winter of 1724-5Father Lauverjait was then in Canada-and, prompted by
St. Castin, they gave a favorable answer to the messengers,
who conveyed it to the English fort at St. George, in February.
Unfortunately, in ignorance of this commencement of
negotiations, Captain Heath with a Company from Kennebec went across the country and attacked the French and
Indian fort and village at the head of the tide, on the
Penobscot, where were fifty or sixty dwellings, which he
found unoccupied, and destroyed them.*
This interrupted the negotiations; but after explanation
they were renewed in June. A fatality appeared to attend them, however, at every step. In July, a Captain John
Pritchard, in an English vessel, took a small bark belonging
to-Anselm's younger brother,t Joseph Dabadis, lying near
Naskeag-Point, (Sedgwick) with a quantity of beaver and
other property, and committed other outrages upon him.
Dabadis made this the subject of a remonstrance and a
claim for damages, on Lieutenant-governor Dummer.
The story is told by Dabadis, in his own English, in the
following letter to Lieutenant-governor Dummer:
"PENTAGOET, 23d July, 1725.
" Sir:-I have the honour to acquaint you that the 9th of
"this present month as j rode at anchor in a small harbor
"about three miles distant from Nesket, having with me
* Hatchinson's History of Massachusetts, ii., 286. The remains
of this fort are still visible.
t Probably.




"CASTINE THE YOUNGER."           87
"but one jndian and one Englishman whom j had redeemed
"from the savages, as well as my vessel, j was attacked by
"an English vessel, the Commander of which called him"self Lieutenant of the King's ship, and told me also his
"name, which j cannot remember.
"Seeing myself thus attackt and not finding myself able
"to defend myself, j withdrew into the wood forsaking my
"vessel. The Commander of the vessel called me back,
"promising me with an oath not to wrong me at all saying
"that he was a merchant who had no design but to trade
" and was not fitted out for war, specially when there was a
"talk of peace, and presently set up a flag of truce, and
"even gave me two safe conducts by writing, both which j
"have unhappily lost in the fight. Thus thinking myself
"safe enough, j came on board my vessel, with my jndian
"and my Englishman, whom j brought to show that j had
"no thoughts of fighting, and that j had redeemed him
"from the jndians as well as the vessel. But as j was
"going to put on my cloaths to dress myself more hand"somely the Commander who was come in my vessel with
"severall of his people would not permit me to do it,
"telling me j was no more master of anything. He only
"granted me after many remonstrances to set me ashore.
"But after j came down and they held forth to me a bag
"full of bisket that was given to me as they said as a
"payiment for my Englishman. They did catch hold of me
"and the jndian who accompanied me, j got rid of him who
"was going to seize upon me, but my jndian not being
"able to do the same, j betook myself to my arms-and
"after several volleys j killed the man who kept him, and
"got him safe with me. This is the second time that j
"have been thus treacherously used, which proceedings j
"do not suppose that you approve of, being against the
"laws of Nations. Therefore j hope that you will do me
"the justice, or that at least you will cause me to be reim"bursed of the loss j have sustained.




88             "CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
" Namely
"For the vessel that costed me 80 French pistoles; for
"the Englishman 10 pistoles; 51 pounds of beaver that
"were in the vessel with 20 otters, 3 coats that have costed
"me together 20 pistoles; 56 pounds of shot that costed
"me 20 pence a pound; 2 pounds of powder at 4 livres a
"pound; 20 pounds of tobacco at 20 pence a pound; a
"pair of scales 8 livres; Tow cloth blankets each 23 livres;
"Tow bear skins 8 livres apiece; 4 skins of sea wolf 8
"livres for the four; 3 axes 15 livres for both; 2 kettles, 30
"livres for both, and severall other matters, which they
"would not grant me, so much as my cup. The retaken
"Englishman knoweth the truth of all this, his name is
"Samuell Trask of the Town of Salem near to Marblehead.
"j have the honour to be
" Sir
"Your most humble & most
"obedient Servant JOSEPH
"DABADIS DE ST. CASTIN."
This matter was probably arranged satisfactorily, for a
cessation of arms between the English and Indians was
agreed upon, and finally, an excellent Treaty, called
" Dummer's Treaty," was signed at Casco, on the fifteenth
of December, 1725, which was quite well observed by the
latter, until the fifth Indian War which succeeded the
French Declaration of War, on the fifteenth of March,
1744.
The Dummer Treaty and a subsequent one made with
the Penobscots, in 1727, exceedingly annoyed the French;
and Lauverjait did not rest until he obtained a Declaration
from the Chiefs, certified to by himself and St. Castin, that
it was but a Treaty of Peace, Amnesty and Accommodation between the two nations. He also wrote a letter to
Vaudreuil, from Panaouamske, dated the seventeenth of
August, 1727, in which he said that the Chiefs of the




" CASTINE THE YOUNGER."           89
village begged him not to doubt their fidelity to him, and
to be assured that the English, by all their presents and all
their articles, could not separate them from the French,
nor make them forget their religion; that, if necessity and
a want of resources had obliged them to make peace it
would not prevent their joining the French again, as soon
as they declared war against the English. This letter was
accompanied by a paper confirming his assertions, to
which he had procured the names of the Chiefs.
From the following letter of Lauverjait to Father La
Chasse, it would seem that St. Castin was sincere in his
protestations of friendship towards the English, or at least
was disposed to keep faith with them; and that Lauverjait found him a great obstacle to his schemes with the
Indians. That Father was greatly enraged against both
him and his brother; and it is probable that the French
Governors considered the priest's zeal quite equal to his
discretion, for his representations had no immediate effect.
" PANAOUAMSKE,* JULY 8, 1728.
"J Very Dear Brother:-The insolence of the Messrs. de
"St. Castin has come to be so excessive, that they no
"longer set bounds to it, in their conduct to me or before
"God.
"The elder, who does not care to marry, and not satis"fied with spreading corruption through the whole village,
"in addition to that now makes a business of selling
"brandy, openly, in company with his nephew, the son of
"M. de Belle Isle. They have been the means of one man
"being drowned already on account of it, and are like to
"be the destruction of many others. The younger of the
" Messrs. de St Castin never comes into the village without
"getting drunk in public and putting the whole village in
" an uproar.
* This village was either at the head of the tide or at Oldtown.
Probably at the former place.
12




90            "CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
"Both of them, prompted by the supplies they receive,
"pretend to be on my side and in the interests of the
"King, but behind my back they do not cease to work
"against me and to oppose every enterprise I undertake,
"in the service of God and the King.
"Excessively puffed up with the commission and with
"the salary they have obtained from the King, through M.
"de Vaudreuil, the earth is not good enough for them to
"stand upon. They believe that they have a right, through
"this commission, to rule absolutely, and to seize and
"dispose of everything at their will; and if any one thinks
"of opposing them they threaten him with nothing less
"than death or massacre.
"They are going to Canada; and they will not fail to
"boast of their services, and to seem very much attached
"to the interests of the Colony. But here is what I be"lieve, before God,
"That, before the savages had begun the War against
"the English, they did everything in the world they could
"to prevent their undertaking it-and this in spite of all
"the exhortations I made to the savages, on the part of M.
" de Vaudreuil, and notwithstanding all that M. de Vaudreuil
"had said to them himself.
"That, after I had, in spite of them, engaged the sava"ges to determine upon a war against the English, they
"broke up the first expedition I had formed, and prevented
"it from starting.
"That, after I had organized another war-party, and
"had sent it off, they stopped it on the way, and would
"have absolutely prevented the war from breaking out, if
"I had not gone down to the sea-shore and persuaded my
"people to proceed with it.
"That, not having been able to prevent the attacks upon
"the English, they pretended to be neutral (except that
"they made money out of the booty taken from the En



" CASTINE THE YOUNGER."           91
" glish-and that for two whole years) on the pretext that
"they were Frenchmen and not natives.
"That, when they could no longer abstain from deciding
"for one side or the other-AM. de Vaudreuil having given
"them to understand, particularly, that their qualities, as
"Frenchmen, did not take from them their rights and,
"consequently, their duties, as savages-the younger,
"actually and in earnest, did go on an expedition, and
"signalized himself; but the elder contented himself with
"showing himself once only, and, although he received a
"hundred affronts from the English, by whom he was taken
"twice, by treachery, and robbed, yet far from dreaming
"of taking his revenge on them, he had sought their pro" tection and asked favors of them.
"That towards the end of the war, when I went to
"Canada, by your orders-the English having sent a
"hostage here, during my absence, to propose peace-the
"Messrs. de St. Castin were the first to suggest that a
"favorable answer should be made to the English, and
"disbanded an expedition that had just set out, by my
"orders to make reprisals on the English, who had treach"erously sent an expedition against us, the previous
"winter, while at another point they assured us concerning
"peace.*
"That since that time, the same gentlemen have not
"ceased to urge the savages to make peace with the
"English, and to accept their propositions, without caring
"what the French might think about it.
"All this I am positively certain about, and am ready to
"make oath to, and this, added to all the other irregulari"ties that these gentlemen are guilty of, such as selling at
"false weight and at false measure, cheating people so out
"of one-quarter to one-third of all they buy, is sufficient
* Evidently the Heath Expedition, while negotiations were going
on, at St. George.




92              " CASTINE THE YOUNGER."
"reason that their pay should be stopped, and that that
"they have not drawn of their salary should be confisca"ted." *
By a letter from the Marquis de Beauharnois, Governor t
of New France, to the Minister, Maurepas, dated the first
of October, 1731, it appears that communications had
been received from St. Castin to him, although he did not
go to Canada, himself, that year, to the effect that the
English were forming considerable establishments in the
neighborhood of the Indian territory, and probably would
render themselves masters of it, by force-an opinion
which the Governor appears to have entertained himself.
In 1736, the French counted upon two hundred warriors,
at Penobscot, as connected with the Government of New
France;   and, by a letter from Beauharnois, dated the
eighth of October, 1744, they agreed to unite with the
French, in an expedition against Annapolis; and were
supplied by him with belts and hatchets.~
I have not yet been able to find anything further relating to the St. Castins, after 1731.
Nothing more is known of Dabadis, than appears in this
paper.  He evidently is the "Robardee" mentioned by
Williamson,!l and supposed, by Captain Francis, to have
been the son of "Castine, the younger."  He, unquestionably, was Castine, the younger brother of Anselm; but
Anselin must have been the Baron's elder son, who was
conspicuous, in Acadie, in the early part of the eighteenth
century.
* This letter was translated from the French, by Henry M. Prentiss, Esq., of Bangor.
t This was the immediate successor of Vaudreuil. He was a
natural son of Louis XIV. He was Governor from 1726 to 1747.
t New York Colonial Documents. ix., 991, 1052.
~ Ibid, 1107.
11 Williamson',s History of Maine, ii., 71.




ARTICLE V.
BASHABA
AND   THE   TARRATINES.
BY HON. JOHN E. GODFREY,
OF BANGOR.








BASHABA      ANI   THE    TARRATINES.
THE readers of the first English chronicles of Maine are
early introduced to the word Bashaba (spelled in various
ways) as the title of a Chief or Chiefs, and, taking it for
granted that the authors knew whereof they wrote, pass on
without stopping to inquire whether it was the title of a
Superior, or simply the name of an individual who occupied the position of a Superior.
In the Journal of' Weymouth.'s V oyage of 1605, we find:
"JUNE 1. Indians came and traded with us. Pointing to
"one part of the main, eastward, they signified to us that
"the Bashebe, their king, had plenty of furs, and much
" tobacco. "*
Strachey mentions the province of Sabino, "so called of
"a Sagamo or chief commander under the graund bassaba."
In another place he says, "early in the morninge the sal"vadges departed in their canoas for the river of Pemaquid,
"promising Captain Gilbert to accompany him in their
"canoas to the river of Penobscot where the bassaba
"dwells." t
Gorges says: "That part of the country we first seated
"in seemed to be monarchical, by the name and title of a
* Belk. Am. Bi. ii., 139. Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., iii., viii., 140.
t Maine Hist. Coll., iii., 303.




96          BASHABA AND TIE TARRATINES.
"Bashaba." * In other places he calls him "the Bashabas."
Captain John Smith, who was on the coast of Maine, in
1614, says that certain tribes held "the Bashaba to be the
"chief and greatest among them, though the most of them
"had Sachems of their own." 
Hubbard says: "In the chief places more eastward,
"they called the chief rulers that commanded the rest,
"Bashabeas, as in the more westward plantations they
"called them Sagamos or Sachems." T
All the authors above named wrote in the seventeenth
century, and neither of them could have had an intimate
acquaintance with the customs of the savages of Maine.
They all had the idea that there was a Chief with the title
of Bashaba, eastward of Sagadahoc, more powerful than
any other Chief, and that all others in that region were
subordinate to him.
There is reason for the belief that they were in error in
treating Bashaba as a title. The fact probably is, that
there was a Chief more powerful than the other chieftains
in his neighborhood, whose namze was Bashaba or Betsebes.
Champlain, who sailed up the Penobscot, (called by him
the Norumbega,) in 1605, writes: "Now I will leave this
" discourse to return to the savages who had led me to the
"rapids of Norumbega; who went to inform Bessabes,
"their Captain, and gave him warning of our arrival.
"The 16th day of the month came to us about 30 sava"ges, on the assurance given to them by those who had
"served us as guides; also came the said Bessabes to us
"that same day with six canoes. As soon as the savages
"who were on the shore, saw him arrive, they all began to
"sing, dance and leap until he had alighted; afterwards
"they all sat down in a circle on the ground, following that
* Brief Narration, Maine H. S. Coll., ii., 61.
t Williamson's Hist. Maine, i., 464.
X Hist. of New England, 30.




BASHABA AND THE TARRATINES.          97
"custom when they wish to make some speech or festival.
"Cabahis, the other Chief, soon after arrived, also, with 20
"or 30 of his companions, who withdrew to the other side,
"and rejoiced greatly to see us, inasmuch as it was the
"first time they had ever seen Christians.
"Some time afterwards, I went on shore with two of my
"companions, and two of our savages who served as inter"preters, and I charged the persons on our part to approach
"near the savages and hold their arms ready to do their
" duty if they should perceive any disturbance in his people
"toward us. Bessabes, seeing us on shore, made us sit
"down, and began to smoke with his companions, as they
"ordinarily do before making their speeches, and made us
"a present of venison and game. All the rest of the day
"and the following night, they did nothing but sing, dance
"and feast, awaiting daylight; afterwards, each one went
"back, Bessabes with his companions, on his part, and
"we on ours, much pleased with having become acquainted
" with this nation." *
The Jesuit missionaries were with the savages upon the
Penobscot as early as 1611, and upon such terms of intimacy with them that they had the best opportunities to
become acquainted with their principal men, and with their
systems of government. They mention no Chief bearing
the title of Bashaba, but in their Relation of 1611, mention
is made of three Captains, "Betsabes, Oguigueou and
"Asticou," -and of the "Sagamo of Kadesquit, called
"Betsabes." +.
Of the first four authors quoted above, neither had
seen the person called Bashaba; neither of them had
visited his place of residence, and they knew where it was
only from hearsay. Hubbard wrote in the latter half of
* Champlain's Voyages, Chap. iii.
t Relations des Jesuits, i., Ch. iii., 8.
Ibid, Ch. xxiv., 62.
13




98           BASHABA AND THE TARRATINES.
the century, and got the idea that the chief rulers were
called Bashabeas, probably from Gorges' expression "the
"Bashabas."
But Champlain, as appears by the above extract, and
the Jesuits, had a personal acquaintance with Bessabes.
In the third chapter of the Relation of 1611, there is an
account of an interview with him and the other Captains
mentioned; and in the twenty-fourth chapter, they say:
"On our first visit and landing at St. Savior, we made as
"though the place did not please us, and that we should go
"to another part; the good people of the place wept and
"lamented. On the other hand, the Sagamo of Kadesquit,
"named Betsabes, himself came for us to allure us by a
"thousand promises, having heard that we proposed to go
"there to dwell."
Mr. Thornton, in his Ancient Pemaqnid, gives the name
of the Chief, Lord, or Sagamore of Mawooshen, as Bashabez.*
It is difficult to determine of what tribe Bashaba was
Chief. His place of residence was, probably, Kadesquit,
or some point above. It is there the Jesuits locate him.
The other authors do not give him any definite locality,
although Champlain saw him in that neighborhood.
By some it is supposed that the ancient head-quarters
of the Eastern savages were upon the plateau known as
the "Brimmer Flats" in Brewer, and opposite the mouth
of the Kenduskeag, which flows into the Penobscot at
Bangor, and that this was the locality of the mythical
great city called Norumbega.t
* Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., v., 156.
t If there was ever a town at this point, it must have been prior
or subsequent to the visit of Champlain. He says: "From the
"entrance [about Isle au Haut] to where I was, which is about 25
"leagues, I saw no city, nor village, nor appearance of there hav"ing been one; but, indeed, one or two savage huts where there
"was nobody. "-[Voyages, Chap. iii.




BASHABA AND THE TARRATINES.            99
At the period of which we write, there could have been
no spot in the East more eligible for an Indian seat of
government than this. It was remote enough from other
tribes, and from it easy communication was had with the
sea. Fish were abundant in the rivers, and it was in the
centre of the game and fur region.
The extent of the dominions of Bashaba is unknown.
Mr. Poor, in his Vindication of Gorges, says, that his authority "extended to Narraganset Bay."*   Mr. Thornton
says, that his dominions were watered by nine rivers, of
which Quibiquesson was on the east, and the Shawacotoc,
or Saco, on the west.t
Gorges designated the dominion of Bashabas, Moasham,
and bounds it on the west and southwest by the country of
Sockegones, and on the east and northeast by the country
of the Tarentines.T
Notwithstanding Gorges deems Bashaba the Chief of
some other people than the Tarratines, is it not probable
that he was in reality their Chief? Williamson says, that
"all the old authors, Smith, Purchas, Winthrop, Prince
" Some supposed it to be a collection of Indian huts, and others
" an ancient town. In Ogilby it is conjectured to be the ruins of
" an ancient town, which the natives called Arambeck, and had de" serted it."-[Sullivan's Hist. of Maine, 269.
"Yet most have formerly agreed upon Norumbegua or Arampec
"as the Natives call it; said to be a large, populous and well
"built town, and to be situate on a fair and capacious river of the
" same name also. But later observations tell us there is no such
"matter; that the river which the first relations did intend is Pemp"tegonet, neither large nor pleasant; and that the place by them
"meant is called Agguncia, so far from being a fair city, that
"there are only agfew sheds or cabins, covered with the barks of
"trees, or the skins of beasts." —[Heylin's Cosmographie, Lib. iv.,
Part ii., 107, Tit. Canada.
* Popham Memorial, Vindication, 50.
t Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., v., 156.
t Maine Hist. Coll., Brief Narration, ii., 61 et seq.




100          BASHABA AND THE TARRATINES.
"and Hubbard, agree that the general name of the na"tives upon the Penobscot was Tarratines."  But Smith
says: "The principal habitations I saw at the northward
"was Penobscot, who are at war with the Tarrateens, their
"next northerly neighbors," and Gorges says, "the war
"growing more violent between the Bashaba and the Tar"rentines."  If Bashaba's abode was at Kadesquit, and he
was not the Chief of the Tarratines, that people must
have been further north. In this case, the "old authors"
cannot be correct in applying the general name to the
natives upon the Penobscot. t
The early writers were confused by the different names
applied to the tribes, and give no very reliable information
relative to them, or to the extent of their dominions. The
idea prevails at the present time that the Penobscots are
the descendants of the Tarratines. But who were the
Tarratines? It is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain
their origin or the origin of their name. Mr. John Gilmary Shea mentions the conversion of "the powerful tribe
"of the Abenakis, or Tarenteens, as the early English set"tlers called them." + The French do not appear to have
applied that name to them; still it is not, probably, of
English origin.  Gorges says, "this Bashaba had many
"enemies, especially those to the east and north-east,
"whom   they [the savagesl called Tarentines."~  Father
Vetromile thinks the name was derived from Atironta, a
brave Indian who rendered many services to the first mis* Hist. of Maine, i., 464.
t Heylin mentions Nansic as a river of the Tarentines, "one of
"the chief nations of this tract," meaning the country of New
England west of Norumbega and the Penobscot.-[Cosmographie,
Lib. 4, P. 2, 110.
I The Catholic Church in the United States, 18.
~ Brief Narration, Maine H. S. Coll., ii., 61.




IBASHABA AND THE TARRATINES.           101
sionaries.*  It is more probable that it was derived from
Taratouan, the name of another brave chieftain who took
the missionaries under his protection. t
Wood says, in relation to the New England savages:
"The country as it is in relation to the Indians, is divided
"as it were into shires, every severall division being
"swayde by a severall King, the Indians to the east and
"northeast bearing the name of Churchers, and Tarren"teenes." ~ It is not probable that the tribes occupied with
reference to the bounds of the then New England. Purchas places the Tarratine country in forty-four degrees
forty minutes. ~
Mr. Kidder says, "they [the Penobscots or Tarratines]
"occupied the country on both sides of the Penobscot Bay
"and River, and that their Chief or Bashaba was said to
"have been acknowledged as far as Massachusetts Bay." Ii
Mr. Kidder may be considered as authority for the locality
of their dominions, and for the fact that Bashaba was
their chief. Gorges was doubtless wrongly informed
as to the Tarratines and their Chief, the whole of
the Penobscot region having been theirs, and Bashaba the nme of the person who held the position of
principal Chief or Superior.~
* The Abenakis, Maine H. S. Coll., vi., 208.
t Jesuit Relation of 1637, Chap. xiv., 65.
1 New England's Prospect, Part ii., Chap. i.
~ Pilgrims, 939.
I! The Abenakis Indians, Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., vi., 232.
TT The Baron La Hontan says, there are some "erratic Nations,
"who go and come from Acadia to New England, and go by the
"names of Mahigans, Soccokis and Openango." The other tribes
in Acadia, he says, are the Abenakis, the Miemac, the Canibas and
the Etechemins, the first three of which have "fixed habitations."
He makes the Kcnebeki the western boundary of Acadia.-[Voyages, i., 223, 230.




102            BASHABA AND THE TARRATINES.
Lescarbot mentions a captain of the savages, named Bessabes,
who was killed by the English and was succeeded by Asticou. — N.
France, Vol. iv., Ch. xv., p. 534.
Purchas says "Bashabes hath many under captains called
" Sagamos."-[Book viii., Ch. v., p. 756, Tit. "Of Virginia."
See note by Dr. Ballard, Hist. Mag., Vol. iii., 2d Se., 249, April,
1868.




NOTE TO ARTICLE I.,
ENTITLED
"THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT."
BY the last census of the Penobscot Tribe of Indians, deposited
in the State archives at Augusta, as taken by the Superintending
School Committee of Oldtown, the number was 455. Within the
last quarter of a century there has been a great change in the
appearance and habits of these people. Many have frame houses.
some of which are handsomely finished and furnished. Among the
men are tolerable farmers and expert river-men in lumbering operations, but the manufacture of canoes, baskets and bead-work is
still continued. Quite a number do quite a good business in their
wares at the watering places in the summer.
They long since discontinued the use of the blanket as an article
of wearing apparel, and the dress of men and women is similar to
that of their white neighbors. They still love brilliant colors, and
river-men not unusually make a display in scarlet trowsers. They
affiliate somewhat with the French, and their complexion is gradually approximating to the European.
In the year 1823, Mr. Josiah Brewer (afterwards Rev. Dr.
Brewer, a Missionary of the American Board of Foreign Missions
in Syria) was employed by a society in Bangor to establish a school
for Indian children on Oldtown Island. He collected quite a number, and the parents did not object to his teaching them. But as
they had never been accustomed to restraint, he found it difficult to
hold their attention long enough to teach them anything. They
were like rabbits in their movements. They would sit and appear




104         NOTE TO "THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT."
to be interested for a short space of time, then jump up and run
away without regard to teacher or lesson. Some did learn to read
and write, however. After a few months Mr. Brewer abandoned
his enterprise. One of his pupils, Joseph Polls, is living and a.
householder upon Oldtown Island. Visitors generally make his
acquaintance.
When Dr. Ballard was State Superintendent of Schools, he
visited Oldtown Island and found there a substantial franIe schoolhouse, and in it a school of from fifteen to twenty Indian boys and
girls of all ages from five to sixteen, under the charge of a young
lady teacher from one of tile neighboring towns. The scholars
were as orderly and studious as those of many of our common
schools, and were a vast improvement over those of Mr. Brewer
near fifty years before-their grandparents and parents, perhaps.
George F. Dillingham, Esq., the present efficient agent of the
Tribe, says that they have a trust fund of $73,828.48, of which they
have the benefit of the interest annually; that the appropriations
by the last Legislature for the tribe were
The interest from this fund....................$4,429.70
The annuity (under the old treaty with Massachusetts assumed by Maine).................. 1,800.00
Bounty  on  crops..............................  400.00
Salary  of  the  Agent..........................  300.00
Salary of the Superintendents of farming at Oldtown, Greenbush and Lincoln...............  150.00
that they are in the annual receipt of shore-rents, which are
collected and disbursed by the State to them in February; that
last February there were paid to them, under the Act of 1873, rents
amounting to $5,756.85. This act provides that the rents be disbursed to the tribe for the support of schools, for the salaries of
governor, lieutenant governor and priest, and that the remainder
be distributed among the members of the tribe per capita.
The school at Oldtown received from these rents last year $200;
that at Mattanawcook Island (Lincoln) $120; that at Olamon Island
(Greenbusb) $80. To the priest was paid $100; to the governor
$50; to the lieutenant governor $30; to members of the tribe
$4,631.00. Left of the fund $545.85.
The agent thinks that all but a few members of the tribe use
their money profitably, and that the effect of this law has tended to
check their roving propensities.




NOTE TO "THE ANCIENT PENOBSCOT."           105
There is some use of intoxicating drinks by some of the tribe,
especially at their annual elections in November. The different
parties then imitate, to some extent, their white neighbors.
Their present governor is Sabattis J. Mitchell, lieutenant governor, John Neptune; delegate to Legislature, Mitchell Paul
Susep.-J. E. G.
14








ARTICLE VI.
GARRISON HOUSES,
YORK COUNTY,
BY HON. EDWARD EMERSON BOURNE,
OF KENNEBUNK.








GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
I HAVE been induced to prepare a brief description of
the garrison houses which were devised and built by our
ancestors, in the times of the Indian wars, for their protection, from a conviction that some memorial of them should
be preserved, with such specific description as would give
to readers of subsequent generations some idea of their
construction, and of their adaptation to the purposes for
which they were built. That they were generally of very
essential service in the perilous days of the Province, no
reader of history can doubt. It may with confidence be
asserted, that without them all the original settlers would
have been driven from the territory. Massachusetts could
not have furnished force enough to shield them from the
ravages on life and property which would have desolated
the territory from the St. Croix to the Piscataqua.
It is with difficulty that I can persuade myself that I
have been acquainted with a man who was born in 1737,
more than twenty years before the Indian wars had closed.
But such is the fact however hard of realization. He lived
till he was nearly one hundred years old. The last I saw
of him he was crossing his field, buffeting a stiff northwester, and hallooing, "Hard lee, foresheet and foretop
"bowline; main topsail halyards, let go." This man's
memory was as perfect in his last days as is that of any




110         GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
man of middle age. And if it was in my power to recall
any one from the shades, I know of no one whose claims
upon me for such a resurrection, on account of the loclJ
historic aid which he could afford, would be so strong as
his. Tradition through him was of as much value as any
written document.
This man was in and out of these garrisons every day of
his boyhood; and no question could have been propounded
to him in relation to their construction, architecture, and
adaptation for the purposes of their erection, which he
could not readily answer. I have only to lament that I
had not been sufficiently interested in the early history of
Maine, to take from the record on his brain much more
than I did of the valuable matter which was there so
deeply inscribed. Very much of the knowledge which I
have of local history came from him. Many of the records
which survive were so generally the product of ignorant
men, and thence so carelessly kept, that their full intended
purport can scarcely be drawn from them. Records have
but one voice; and they are deaf to all our anxious enquiries for further explanation. But the sound memory of
the living man can frequently respond to all our appeals
for knowledge of the matter in consideration. These
incidental remarks are only made as suggestive of the duty
which is upon us all as members of the Historical Society.
Some of these ancient garrison houses still survive the
wreck of time, though most of them have been so modified
to meet the fashions of the day, that no stranger can
recognize them. Here and there is one on which the hand
of modern improvement has not been laid. In my early
days they were to be found all along the sea-board, and
would, at once, be distinguished from other dwellings. In
the upper part of York, called Scotland, there are two near
together yet in their normal condition, excepting so far as
that condition has been changed by the havoc of the years
which have passed since their erection. They are poor




GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.        ll
specimens of the garrison house. One of them is occupied
by the richest man in York. The other has for many
years been tenantless, and is rapidly tending to the fate of
all things material. But still they are monuments of the
struggles to which our fathers were called for the preservation of life and property in the early days of the
Province. A pilgrimage to them would well repay an
hour spent in their examination.
There was a great variety in the construction of these
houses of defense. Some were converted from the ordinary dwelling houses into garrisons. Others were built
for the special purpose of security; and nearly all by
individuals. The Government of Massachusetts seems not
to have been over-anxious for the safety of Maine. Money
may have been spent by that Government at the East to
furnish a refuge for the people in the terrible trials to
which they were exposed. But so far as regarded shelter
from the storms of Indian vengeance, which so often came
over them, it seems to me that the position assumed by
that Province was, that every man must take care of himself. Instead of providing protection, they took for their
own purposes those which the settlers had provided for
themselves. Sure I am that the town of Wells, which was
said in those days to be the frontier of the frontiers, had
little pecuniary aid for that purpose. While all the rest of
the Province east was laid waste, and its inhabitants driven
from it, that town withstood all the assaults of the savage
foe; and this defense was maintained only by garrisons,
the private property of the inhabitants.
As early as 1690 there were seven garrison houses in Wells;
enough to accommodate all the inhabitants. There were
several in York, Arundel, Saco, and, I suppose, as many in
proportion to population in Falmouth, Scarboro, and the
villages east. I can only describe two or three, to which
any special knowledge which I have of these structures is
limited. In Cape Neddock, which suffered so severely, there




112         GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
were two, which were built by one Clark, an Englishman,
sometime in the last century. Sites were selected, as I
suppose may be said of all in the Province, where the
sentinels could have an unobstructed view of many rods
in every direction. One of these stood at the eastern end
of the lower bridge over the Cape Neddock river. It was
about forty feet long and twenty-two wide; to this, as the
main body, was built out on the western end a kitchen.
It was constructed entirely of timber, or as we might at
the present time say, of deals. These were sawed about
twenty inches wide and about five inches thick, or
sufficiently so to be impenetrable to bullets, muskets being
then the only guns of which the Indians could avail
themselves. They were sawn out as thin as they could be
with safety, for convenience in raising them to their
positions. These were placed on their edges, and were all
dovetailed at the corners, so that they could not be started
from their places. It was thus built without any frame;
these deals thus laid one above the other constituting the
entire walls of the house. The door posts were of stout
white oak, and so grooved to receive the door, that nothing
could penetrate from the outside. The doors were made
of thick heavy wood. The house was of two stories, the
upper projecting on each side and end twenty inches
beyond the lower so that the second story was over fortythree feet long and twenty-five feet wide. At each corner
of the second story were built out what was termed sentry
boxes, sustained by three braces from the walls of the
main building. These projected about six feet and were
made sufficiently large to accommodate six men. Thus
secured from danger from without, the watchmen were
adequate to defend against any attacks which were likely
to be made upon it, the Indians generally accomplishing
their dire work by small companies issuing from their
ambush in the neighboring forests. Small openings were
made in the walls from which they could discharge their




GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.       113
guns in any needed direction. The projection of the
second story over the first was for two special purposes;
to turn down hot water on any assailants, and to extinguish
fire if they should attempt to burn the garrison. I do not
remembler any instance from books or tradition in which
the former mode of defense was resorted to.
On the lower floor of the house were three rooms besides
the kitchen; and on the upper four sleeping rooms.- As
all these garrison houses were built by individuals, as to
the inner arrangements they were made according to the
various tastes of their owners. This house was well plastered and finished.
The other garrison lower down and on the opposite side
of the river was constructed in about the same style, one
man erecting both. This was the common style of the
simple garrison house all over the Province. Cape Neddock suffered very severely from the incursions of the
Indians. During the wars all the people of this neighborhood resorted to these garrisons.  Those within were
never harmed by assaults from without; and I think none
of the garrisons in the western part of the state were
destroyed by the enemy.   Many frightful scenes were
witnessed from  within the walls; old Mr. Weare, the
ancestor of the respectable families of that name in York,
was returning from meeting on horseback, with his daughter,
when both of them were shot.    The daughter had a
valuable ring on her finger, and instead of slipping it off,
the savages cut off the finger and carried it away with
them. An incident, not n entioned in history, showing the
fascination of the life of these remorseless savages, may
well be added. Two boys, in an imprudent moment, were
out from the garrison; they were captured and carried to
Canada. One of them afterwards returned; but civilization
had lost its charms, and though every possible motive was
addressed to his mind to deter him, he chose to go back to
savage life.
15




114         GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
There had been another garrison near the sea, which
was protected only by a high wall of earth. But this
mode of security was not followed any where else. These
have all been razed to the ground within the present
century.
But the garrison best known in history, and memorable
for its successful resistance of all attacks upon it, was the
Storer garrison in Wells. In its construction it differed
materially from those before described. It was situated a
little to the eastward of the old Church on the lower side
of the main road. It was built by Joseph Storer just
before, or at the beginning of King William's or the ten
years war, and was the house of defense for the people of
Wells, and refugees from the east for three quarters of a
century. It was a large structure though not so large as
many of our modern dwelling houses. I am not sure that
in its general exterior it differed much from many houses
of the present age. I do not know whether the second
story projected beyond the lower; I think it did not.
But it had four turrets, one at each corner of the house,
built as watch-towers. From these the vision was unobstructed on all sides; the marshes and the sea lying before
it on the south and east, and cleared land on the north and
west. The protection was secured by a pallisade. This
was constructed of large sticks of timber, from ten to
fifteen feet long, sharpened at one end and driven into the
ground in contiguity, so that the inner house was protected
from the musquet ball. This pallisade was built about ten
feet from the house. Outside of this Storer built several
small houses for the relief of those who were reduced to
such accommodations, as a last extremity. These were
occupied by families in the day time. But at night all
sought safety in the garrison. Three times all the garrisons
east of this in Maine were forsaken, and many from all
parts of the Province, and nearly all the inhabitants of
Wells rushed to this house for refuge. At times several




GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.       115
hundreds must have been within its walls; but how they
were accommodated, or what order was maintained,
neither history nor tradition gives us any account.
The history of life in and about this garrison, if it
could be had, would be a work of intense interest. But
no thoughtful hand was there to make record of the
heart-rending scenes which must have been daily witnessed;
or of those other occasions when, amidst the confusion
which must have been inevitable, the natural impulses of
many in the crowd must have burst forth in mirthfulness,
or found vent in the expression of some witty or fanciful
idea, whose power even the most sad arid affected could
scarcely resist. By some incautious act, or mishap,
Storer's own daughter, Mary, was seized and carried into
captivity. From hence was taken Rev. George Burroughs,
the victim  of the terrible delusion of witchcraft which
prevailed in Massachusetts in 1692. Thank God, we have
no evidence that Maine responded to the frightful murders
which had their origin in this iniquitous flanaticism. If all
which has been said of George Popham and his noble
comrades had any foundation in true history, the shame of
the reproach would be but slight in the contrast with that,
which will forever adhere to Massachusetts fiom this
memorable delusion. Burroughs was here then laboring
for the protection of a distressed people, and entreating
help from the government of that Colony.
But here were fought the great battles of "the ten
"years war," the last of which will be worthy of commemoration to the end of time. What would have been the
result of savage success can be known only to that
Omniscience, to whose vision there is no limit in matter,
spa'ce or time. But in any view which we can take of the
then posture of thle affairs of Maine, every inhabitant and
every vestige of civilization would have been swept from
it. It is well known that a savage attack was made on
this garrison by Moxus with his two hundred Indians




116         GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
in 1691, and being then defeated, he notified Captain
Convers that he would return next year and then have
him out of his den.  Of course every preparation was
made by the French, for they were the instigators of
all these wars, to accomplish their object in their next
attack. Agreeably to the assurance given to the commander, in just one year from that time five hundred
Indians and French, under the French general Labocree, appeared before the garrison. They came upon it
under the inspirations of assured success, and had it not
been for the intervention of an over-ruling Providence,
whose precise action in the contest we cannot fully comprehend, the garrison and all its inmates, men, women and
children, must have fallen a prey to savage vengeance.
What were eight soldiers and eight untrained men to these
five hundred before them in the full confidence of victory!
But so it was, the brave Convers with not less courage and
resolution than Leonidas in his memorable struggle, fought
this great army three days, cutting down one after another
of the invaders, and the commander himself, until, cowed
and disheartened, they were compelled to abandon the
siege and flee to the forests. The details of this conflict,
and of the battle with the two small vessels are well known
by historic readers, and do not properly come within the
purview of this article.
A third style of garrison was that of Sergeant Stephen
Larrabee in Kennebunk, then a part of Wells. It covered
an acre of ground. This was built about 1720, or about
the time of Lovewell's war. It was located on the Mousam
River. Timber was then very abundant and close at hand.
He raised the walls of large lumber about fourteen feet
high, using in their construction about 13,000 cubic feet.
The enclosure was in the form of a parallelogram. The
structure fronted down the river, or southeasterly. On the
four corners were four flankers, so projecting that the
watchmen within might have a view of any operations




GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.       117
without, on one side and one end. These were built in an
angular form, with a porthole in the angle not large enough
for a man to enter through it. On the front side was also
a large flanker, in the style of a portico, though built six
feet from the ground, so that one could pass directly under
it. There were three gates, one at each end and one on
the side of the front flanker. Within this garrison were
built five houses; that of Sergeant Larrabee was in the
center. It was a very large house, and of one story only.
Two were built by private families, and the other two for
the accommodation of soldiers who were stationed there
under his command, and for those who fled from the neighborhood in times of alarm, or when it was known that the
Indians were a-broad in their terrible work. These houses
were all of one story having, as they were called in those
days, block windows; that is, merely square holes to let in
the air and light, which might be blocked up in a moment
to protect the inmates from outward danger. MAost of the
houses at this period were lighted with similar windows.
They were about a foot square; some had thick substantial
shutters, others were provided only with blocks. This was
the largest building which has ever stood within the limits
of Kennebunk. Of its splendors or magnificence we can
say nothing. It was not built for show but for protection.
Sometimes more than two hundred persons were living
in it.
In regard to the regime of these garrison houses many
enquiries cannot be answered. But one question frequently
presents itself to my mind. How were they shielded from
attack in the night time? The protection for which they
were designed required free view in all directions; but this
could not then be had. It would have been perfectly easy
in the intense darkness, which sometimes prevailed, to set
them on fire by the aid of the firelock and some readily
igniting substance; or a breach could have been made in
almost any part of the walls. I have never seen any




118         GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
statement that light was sent out from the garrison upon
the adjacent land, neither does tradition furnish us with
any such fact. A single Yankee of the present age could
have blown any of them up without any extraordinary
artifice. That of Larrabee I know was not lighted up.
Once or twice the savages attempted some aggression upon
it in the darkness. Larrabee was one of the most vigilant
and careful men. Nothing in and about the garrison
necessary for its safety, escaped his attention. No one but
himself was to shut the gates at night, or open them in the
morning. He knew every object in the curtilage, or surrounding grounds, and thence in the night he could at once
perceive any change in an:y of these objects. In the
darkness of one stormy night in taking his survey from the
flankers, he assured the watchmen that there was something under the cart standing near the garrison which was
not there in the day time. He seized his gun and fired.
In the morning blood was traced all the way from the cart
to the forest; and after the war was over, Wawa, the
Sachem, whose summer home was about a mile from him,
told Larrabee that he and his scout who were then under
the cart received a very effectual admonition of the danger
of a nightly ambush near the garrison. I recite this fact
simply to show that no light radiated in the night over the
outskirts of the garrison. It is to me passing strange that
the great army of Portneuf and Labocree did not take
advantage of the darkness to destroy that of Storer; and
it is not less strange, when there were three or four others
near by which could have been so easily destroyed, that no
attack was made on any of them.
I am reminded by this brief recurrence to the works of
our ancestors, of an inexcusable defect in our histories.
The period of the Indian wars was surely the time which
tried men's souls, and wonderful developments of character
were then made-such as deemand of posterity the recognition of a great and magnanimous spirit, and the awarding




GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.        119
all the honor which true nobility has the right to claim
from every good citizen. We honor the memory of George
Peabody for his benevolence, and it is well that we do so.
We are thus educating humanity in the duty of Christian
philanthropy. But George Peabody, with all his liberality,
had his millions of dollars remaining. But what honor
has ever been rendered to those noble men of our early
days, who devoted nearly all which they had to the preservation of the lives of the distressed settlers, who were
then fleeing to them from all parts of the Province to
escape the terrible cruelties of savage animosity?  Our
history speaks of Storer's garrison; of the Councils which
were holden there; of treaties there made; the soldiers
stationed there; battles fought-and of the hundreds of
weary and distressed men, women and children who there
found a place of refuge. But of the true nobility of soul,
the sincere, earnest, and unflinching patriotism, the sacrifice
of self and property for others weal, as manifested by the
originator and builder of this asylum for distressed
humanity, no utterance beams out of its pages. I speak
not without book in relation to this matter. Joseph Storer
with his little property, conceived and carried out, at his
own expense, the noble project of building this garrison.
Ten years after his death, his sons who were then living
here, say that their father, Joseph Storer, a great number of
years from 1680 was at great and extraordinary charge in
building and repairing these fortifications around his
dwelling house, not for himself, but for the forces sent into
the eastern parts during war and in troublesome times;
that his house was always open to the service of the
Province, and that great numbers of distressed refugees
here found safety-and that he built also several small
houses about the garrison for the use of some who could
not find accommodation within. Yet for all this expenditure the Government gave him no remuneration; and of
all his watchful anxiety for the public weal, his magnanimity




120         GARRISON HOUSES, YORK COUNTY.
of soul, and all absorbing patriotism which impelled him
to these great sacrifices for the houseless and distressed,
history has taken no note.
The object of all history should be the progress of
civilization, which can only keep pace with a sound
morality and Christian patriotism. And these are to be
taught effectually, not by precept alone, but by the teachings suggested by the examples of preceding ages. Good
men of all time must be honored-their memory cherished,
their lives imitated, if we would be faithful to our trust.




ARTICLE VII.
"JOURNAL OF THE ATTACK OF THE REBELS
ON
HIS   MAJESTY'S     SHIPS    AND    TROOPS,
UNDER COMMAND OF
BRIG. GEN. McLEAN AND CAPT. HENRY MOWATT,
COMMENCING
24th July, 1779, at Majebiguiduce in Penobscot Bay."
FROM THE NOVA SCOTIA GAZETTE, HALIFAX, SEPT. 14, 1779.
COMMUNICATED BY
JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST.
16








JOURNAL OF THE ATTACK.
Saturday, 24 July.-Saw a large fleet of Ships, Brigantines, Sloops and Schooners, at 5 P. M., in the entrance of
the bay, at which time an alarm gun was fired from His
Majesty's Sloop Albany, commanded by Captain Mowatt.
Sunday, 25.-Saw the fleet steering up the bay, and at
half an hour past 3 in the afternoon five ships of the
enemy's fleet stood athwart the entrance of the harbor,
and began a cannonade on our ships and batteries which
they returned very warmly, and with great spirit. During
this time their land forces attempted to land under cover
of the rest of their ships, but were repulsed by the piquet.
Moonday, 26.-At daybreak the rebels attempted to make
good their landing on the bluff point of the peninsular,
but were a second time repulsed. At half an hour past 2
in the afternoon nine of their ships followed in a line
across the harbor, and began a cannonade which continued
while the tide was in their favor, and was returned without
intermission from our ships and batteries. At 6 o'clock
two of their largest brigantines and a sloop entered by a
narrow channel to the southward of the island, at the
entrance of the harbor, which navigation favored their
forcing a landing on said island under a smart fire from
these vessels. Two three pounders from the transport
with the seamen, had been placed here to annoy the
enemies attempt to force the harbor, but being overpowered




124           JOURNAL OF THE ATTACK
by numbers they were obliged to retreat. At this time the
transports were ordered to remove higher up, and in the
course of the night Capt. Mowatt, finding the enemy busy
in raising works opposite on the island, moved the King's
ships to their second station, where they formed a line as
before.
Te.sday, 27.-We were pretty quiet all this day, and
had a few shots only fired at our small battery, which were
returned. All this day the enemy was busy erecting a
battery on the island at the south of the harbor, and
making feints to land, but returned on board again.
Wednesday, 28.-At dawn of day the army landed in
force on the bluff head, under a heavy cannonade of round
and grape shot, but lost a great number of men; the loss
on our side was inconsiderable. Upon this the General
ordered the troops on Butler's battery into the fort, lest
their retreat should be cut off. Nothing particular during
the remainder of the day.
Thtursday, 29.-The enemy opened their battery on the
above island, consisting of two eighteen and one twelve
pounder, which played the whole day, chiefly on the shipping, but sometimes on the fort.  The shipping having
received some damage removed to their third and last
station, which was so fortunately chosen from  Capt.
Atowatt's exact knowledge of the harbor, that the communications should be kept open with the fort, the dispositions
ashore and afloat cooperating with and perfectly supporting
one another.
Friday, 30.-In the afternoon of this day the rebels
opened a battery upon the fort within point blank shot, of
two twelve, and one eighteen pounders. They played very
sharply, but had it as warmly returned, however, but little
damage was done to the works. The roof of the store
received several shot, two men wounded, one of whom died
soon after. This night the enemy threw some shells from




ON BRITISH SHIPS AND TROOPS.     125
a 5- inch mortar, which did no damage, and we in return
threw several shells into their encampment from our royals.
Saturday, 31.-A constant cannonade between the fort
and rebel batteries.
Suncday, yAugust 1.-About 2 o'clock in the morning the
enemy attacked the lower battery, where the marines were
posted, and, by a superiority of numbers, were obliged to
give ground before the piquet could support them; for this
purpose fifty men were sent out, who soon drove the enemy
back, tho' allowed to be in number above three hundred.
N. B. In the above last mentioned attack the loss of
the rebels was considerable, and ours very trifling indeed;
some of our men taken prisoners, and thirteen of the
enemy taken by us; their intention, it appears, was to
storm the fort.
Aonday, 2d.-The cannonade between the enemy's battery and our fort continued, and some popping with small
arms between their sentinels and ours, some of whom were
killed in trees; this day lost three men by the enemy's
cannon shot.
Tlcsday, 3d.-The rebels busy in erecting another battery to the northward of our shipping. The cannonade
against the fort continued as before, but with no loss on our
side. At night all the garrison constantly under arms on
the banquette, expecting to be stormed by the enemy.
Fiedhnesday, 4.-The cannonade from the fort and rebel
oattery continued as before. This day lost one man.
During the day they threw several shells into the fort
without the least hurt to us.
Th/ursday, 5.-The enemy opened their new battery to
the northwest of the shipping, but did no damage farther
than wounding one man. The island battery and the one
near the fort kept constantly playing this day, which was
duly returned from the fort. Some brisk firing of small
arms from our piquet. One killed and two wounded on
our side. An Indian and some rebels killed on theirs.




126           JOURNAL OF THE ATTACK.
JFriday, 6th.-The cannonade between the fort and rebel
battery continued as usual. One man killed on our side.
Satzrday, 7.-This morning Corporal M'Phiel was killed
by a cannon shot in the store. In the afternoon there was
a skirmish between a party of ours and from two to three
hundred of the enemy, who were drove into the woods
with considerable loss; in this skirmish Lieut. McNeil of
the 82d, and one private were wounded. About the same
time some of the enemy were from the shipping observed
crossing with a boat, as if with an intention to erect a
battery on a point near our shipping, upon which Captain
Mowatt, with his usual vigor and vigilance, sent armed
boats in which there were fifty men, from the garrison, to
intercept them, but the boats only were taken, those that
were in them having fled into the woods.
Sunday, 8.-This day rained hard during the fore
part. Cannonading the latter, which did no damage to us.
Monday, 9.-Cannonading as usual, lost one man by a
cannon shot.
Tuesday, 10.-The rebels opened another battery upon
the fort; cannonading as usual, but no loss sustained.
Wedncesday, 11.-Cannonading as usual; one man killed,
and one wounded on piquet by small arms. A deserter
informs they mean to come in with their shipping to attack
us.
Th'usday, 12.-And thereafter nothing remarkable happened until our fleet came in, when great as the trouble was
they had given us, with what pleasure we feasted our eyes
beholding them last Saturday in still greater, scampering
away up a narrow river to the tune of about forty sail, all
which except two of their ships of war, viz., the Hunter
and Putnam, were burnt to the water's edge by themselves.




ARTICLE       VIII.
P E M A QU I D
IN ITS RELATIONS TO
OUR      COLONIAL            HISTORY:
AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT FORT POPHAM, KENNEBEC RIVER,
AUGUST, 1874, AT THE 267TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LANDING MADE AT THAT SPOT BY THE POPHAM COLONY.
BY FRANKLIN B. HOUGH, M. D.,
OF LOWVILLE, N. Y.








PEMAQUID AND OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.
THE returning anniversary of an event you have chosen
to commemorate, as one of signal interest in the history
of New England, brings us together upon a spot, where,
two hundred and sixty-seven years ago, the first attempt
was made, under title, to establish right by possession,
within the region between the fortieth, and five and fortieth
degrees of latitude of the North American coast, then
newly granted, and vaguely known as the estate of the
Second or North Virginia Colony.*
* This charter was granted April 10, (0. S.) 1606, in the 4th year
of James I. It has been often printed, and may be found, with the
instructions issued to those who were to act under it, in Hening's
Statutes at Large of Virginia, i., 57, 75. Among the grantees are the
names of Sir Francis Popham, Knight, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges,
Knight. both subsequently especially interested in the pioneer
attempts at colonization on the coast of Maine. An Ordinance and
Constitution enlarging the number of the Council of the two several colonies and plantations in Virginia, and more fully defining
their powers and privileges, was issued March 9, 1607, and may be
found, with its various readings, in the work above cited, p. 76, 79.
It adds the names of Sir Edward Hungerford, Knight, Sir John
Mallet, Knight, Sir John Gilbert, Knight, Sir Thomas Freake, (or
Freale) Knight, Sir Richard Hawkings, Knight, Sir Bartholomew
Mitchel, Knight, Edward Seamour, Esq., Bernard Greenville, Esq.,
Edward Rogers, Esq., and Matthew Sutcliffe, Doctor of Divinity,
on behalf of the second colony. The first colony were allowed to
plant between the 34th and 41st, and the second colony between the
17




130             PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
Without venturing to conjecture what may have been
earlier learned and forgotten of Scandinavian discovery,
we may remark that something of this coast had been
known since the voyage of the Cabots more than a hundred years before, and probably more than it was for their
interest to publish, by the maritime adventurers, who had
for many years been accustomed to fish in these waters,
and barter with the native tribes.*  After the ample discussion that has been had concerning the character of the
colonists of Sabino, who came in 1607, I could scarcely
hope to bring new facts out of oblivion to throw light upon
the subject. It is of more consequence to know uwhla, than
who they were, and except so far as might effect their
intelligence, their capacity for endurance, and their disposition to obey orders, the question does not appear to me
of vital importance. They evidently came with the honest
design of founding a permanent colony. They were
strangers to the country, its climate and its resources; were
called upon to endure unaccustomed hardships, to which
38th and 45th degrees of north latitude. The overlapping belt
from the 38th to the 41st degrees was open to whichsoever colony
should first occupy, but not within one hundred miles of any other
English colony. A second charter for the first colony was granted
May 23, 1609, embracing a grant of the country two hundred miles
north, and the same distance south of Point Comfort, and westward
to the South Seas.-[Hening, i., 80, 98.
* Various evidences are stated by Mr. Biddle in his Memoir of
Sebastian Cabot, tending to show that an acquaintance with the
American coast was kept up long afterwards, and before the realization of any known plans for actual colonization. This author even
ventures the question: "Can it have been that Sebastian Cabot,
"'meanwhile, was attempting to colonize the new region? The mis"sion of the Priest would seem to countenance the idea of a
"settlement; and we might thus account for the long disappearance
"of our navigator, as well as for the language of Thevet." The
authorities examined and cited in Mr. Biddle's Memoir, will aid a
more careful study of this almost forgotten century of our history.




TO OUTR COLONIAL MSTORY.          131
lthey proved themselves unequal, and after spending a few
months, and losing their leader, they returned home. The
quality of endurance under privation is not always a guarantee of success, and we have examples of victory under
hardships more severe than those we have reason to suppose
fell to the lot of the pioneers of the Sagadahoc. So far as
appears from records, the party consisted of men only,
The pilgrims of Plymouth, whose death-roll of the first
winter showed sufferings much more extreme, were families
of men, women and children. Yet their courage failed not
with their decreasing numbers, and I will venture to suggest,
whether the resolute heart and steady faith of woman,
though she be frailer in strength, may not on such occasions
impart that courage, and will of endurance to the husband
and the brother, which may enable them to triumph in the
hour of greatest hardship. The annals of frontier settlement since the beginning of our history abound with
instances of heroism thus inspired, whether in depths of
forests half buried with snows, in the lone prairie home,
or separated from the world by pathless wastes. Conceding
the interest and importance attached to the historical
ground on which we stand, the incidents of which have
been so ably discussed within the last dozen years, I am
led to consider another theme of pioneer enterprise of this
region which is closely identified with the history of New
England, and in which the citizen of -New York, as well as
of Maine and of Massachusetts, may claim a share of
interest due to former possession, and as such, forming a
link in the chain of history of each of these states, of
common interest with -them all.
We attach value to the enterprise of 1607, because we
find therein a design of permanence, the germ of a community that was to have been governed by laws, the
beginning of civilization in a region then scarcely known
beyond the outline of its coast, and peopled only by savages. But these very colonists visited in their coming, and




132            PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
some may have tarried in returning at a place not many
miles to the eastward, around which cluster associations of
still greater historical interest than this transient seat of
colonial enterprise.
We may seek in vain the details of the first landing-the
first interviews with native tribes-the first success in
fishing and in trade, which from a beginning so obscure as
scarce to leave a trace in history, gradually expanded into
a business worthy of the enterprise of the age, and made
Pemaquid "the Metropolitan of these parts, because it
"ever have been so before Boston was settled." t
The able researches of several who have given especial
attention to these antiquities, and incidentally the labors
of others, have rendered the name of Pemaquid familiar to
the historical student, and have supplied the most that
may ever be known in connection with its early annals.t
A headland between the Damriscotta and the Aledomack
rivers, within plain sight of Monhegan island, the most
conspicuous landmark on the coast, and itself one of the
most prominent places on the main land, these places
would be as likely to attract the attention of the first
navigators, as their lighted beacons to now catch the eye
of the passing voyager. Some three miles from the point,
* Petition of the inhabitants of New Harbor to the Governor and
Council of New York; without date, but found among the papers
of 1692 in the records of the Secretary of State at Albany. It is
signed by William Sturt, town clerk of Pemaquid, and is doubtless
of earlier date than that of the transfer of the region east of the
Kennebec, from the government of New York to that of Massachusetts.-[Maine Hist. Coll., v., 137.
The original is bound in the Colonial Records of the office of the
Secretary of State, at Albany, N. Y.; manuscripts, vol. xxxviii.,
p. 200.
t Maine Hist. Soc. Collections, vol. v.; Memorial Volume of the
Popham Celebration, Aug. 29, 1862; History of Bristol and Bremen.
in the State of Maine, including the Pemaquid settlement, by John
Johnston; Ancient Dominions of Maine, by Rufus King Sewall, etc.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.             133
on the east side, is the small cove known from the earliest
times as New Harbor, and on the west side, between three
and four miles from the point is Pemaquid Harbor, protected from the open sea by dykes of basalt as a natural
sea wall, and forming a haven as cozy as that which
received the scattered fleet of IEneas on the Lybian coasts.
On the east side of the entrance of the harbor, and
nearly opposite the trap rocks we have mentioned, are the
remains of an ancient fort, the fourth of its kind that has
sheltered the settlers of this point. In the neighborhood
are traces of many dwellings along streets once paved, the
marts of trade and busy thoroughfare of a hardy and
adventurous race, who in the pursuit of present gain,
heeded little of future fame, and of whom, had it depended
on themselves for record, we might now have known little
beyond these silent but not quite forgotten traces of former
life and enterprise.
We are scarcely informed of details, but know the general fact, that from the time when Cabot made his first
voyage in a Bristol ship, with Bristol seamen, in 1497, down
through  the century which followed, the enterprise of
Bristol merchants was more or less directed towards the
American fisheries."  When Gosnold visited this coast in
1602, he saw natives with English apparel, and to whom a
ship was not an object of wonder.tk In 1603 Martin Pring
* See authorities cited in Biddle's Memoir of Sebastian Cabot;
Drake's Hist. of Boston, etc.
t Purchas's Pilgrimes, (1625), part 4, pp. 1646-1651.
It is uncertain as to what part of the New England coast is here
alluded to, but it could scarcely have been other than Maine. The
language of Purchas is as follows:
"The fourteenth, about six in the morning we descried land that
"lay north, &c., the northerly part we called the North Land, which
" to another rock upon the same lying twelve leagues west, that wee
"called Savage Rocke, because the savages first shewed themselves
"there; five leagues towards the said rocke is an out point of




134             PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
mentions the good anchorage and superior fishing grounds
of these waters.*  In 1605, Captain Weymouth + took from
Pemaquid five natives of the country, who coming to the
notice of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, first inspired in him that
interest in America which afterwards became a leading
subject of his ambition, and the earnest effort of his life.'In 1607, when Captain Gilbert's vessel with Sir John
Popham's colonists dropped anchor near Pemaquid, a party
of Indians in a Spanish shallop came to his vessel in a
familiar way, ~ and from this time forward we find frequent
mention of Pemaquid as a place frequented and inhabited
by Englishmen, the seat of a lucrative Indian trade, known
to all the fishermen on the coast, and gradually rising into
importance as a commercial point. The adjacent fields
"woodie ground, the trees thereof very high and straight from the
"rocks east northeast. From the said rocke came towards us a
"Biscay shallop with saile and oares, having eight persons in it,
"whom we supposed at first to bee Christians distressed. But
"approaching us neere, wee perceived them to bee savages. These
"comming within call hayled us, and wee answered. Then after
"signes of peace, and a long speech by one of them made, they
"came boldly aboord us being all naked, saving about their shoul"ders certaine loose deere skinnes, and near their wastes seale
" skinnes tyed fast like to Irish Himmie trousers. One that seemed
"to be their commander wore a wastecoate of black worke, a pair
"of breeches, cloth stockings, shooes, hat and band; one or two
"more had also a few things made by some Christians. These with
"a piece of chalke described the coast thereabouts, and could name
"Placentia of the New-Found-Land. They spake divers Clristian
"words, and seemed to understand much more than we, for want of
"language, could comprehend."
* Purchas's Pilgrimes, (1625,) part 4, pp. 1654-1656.
t Parchas's Pilgrimes, (1625,) part 4, pp. 1659-1667; Memorial
Volume, Popham Celebration,. pp. 301-317; McIKeen's Remarks on
the Voyage of George Weymouth, Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., v., pp.
307-341; Prince's Voyage of Weymouth, ib. vi., pp. 291-318.
+ Gorges' Briefe Narration, Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., ii., Chap. 2, 3.
~ Strachey's Account, Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., iii., Art. iv.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.           135
show traces of cultivation from an early period, and the
remains of an ancient canal at the falls some little distance
northward from the fort, suggest the probability that mills
were erected by these pioneer settlers.*
In 1625, John Brown, a gentleman of Bristol, England,
acquired an Indian title to Pemaquid neck, which, after
strenuous attempts to establish claims by his heirs and
assigns, was set aside as worthless in modern times. t In
February, 1631, a patent was obtained by Robert Aldsworth
and Gyles Elbridge, also of Bristol, through the Council
of Plymouth, including some twelve thousand acres, with
nearly the same limits as the Indian grant.: This contained
no rights of government, and therefore will be no further
traced as it has been most fully described by others. In
1614, Captain John Smith, who had been governor of
Virginia, spent a part of the season on this coast, and
accurately describes Monhegan island and the shores
opposite, and from the glowing accounts of this voyage
which he gave on his return, Prince Charles declared that
this region should bear the name of New England. ~
In 1630, the first fort was built at Pemaquid, which was
probably nothing but an earth-work, and in ruins at the
beginning of New York occupation. It might be incident* Memorial Volume, Popham Celebration, pp. 263-301; Johnston's Bristol and Bremen; Sewall's Ancient Dominions of Maine,
etc.
t Thornton's Ancient Pemaquid, Maine Hist. Soc. Coll., v., p.
191; Report of Lincoln Co. Commissioners, (appointed by Resolve
of June 20, 1811;) Memorial Volume of Popham Celebration,' p.
276; Johnston's Bristol and Bremen, p. 52; N. E. Hist. and Gen.
Reg., xiii., 365.
] Thornton's Ancient Pemaquid, Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., v.; Johnton's Bristol and 3Iremen.
~ Smith's General Hist. of Virginia, New England, and the
Summer Isles, (Sixth Book;) Purchas's Pilgrimes, (1625,) part 4,
p. 1838.




136           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
ally noticed that the territory of Acadia with very indefinite
boundaries, remained in possession of the French, with the
consent of England, from the treaty of Breda in 1667, to
that of Utrecht in 1713; and that although France claimed
the bounds as extending westward to the Kennebec, this claim
was never conceded by the English, who insisted upon the
theory, that the Pemaquid coast belonged exclusively to
the English.
We come down to the period of the restoration in 1660.
Since the death of Charles I., in 1649, the royal family had
been exiles upon the Continent; and for the most of the
time in France, Charles, the elder prince, a youth some
nineteen years of age at the time of his father's execution,
had in the interval of the Commonwealth passed through
all varieties of fortune, and not without perils and penury,
but always addressed by those around him wherever known,
as the lawful sovereign of England. In fact, the chronology of his subsequent reign does not admit the fact of
interruption, and dated the years as beginning with the
death of Charles I. In his foreign retreat, in which some
of the forms with none of the substance of royalty had
been preserved, he had been taught by bitter experience
how base and treacherous and ungrateful man may be,
however obsequious in outward forms. Without ambition,
a slave to sensual indulgence, he detested business, and
such was his impatience of toil, and such his ignorance of
affairs, that the very clerks who attended him when he sat
in council, could not refrain from sneering at his frivolous
remarks and childish impatience.*  So utterly lost was he
to a sense of honor, that some years afterwards he became
the pensioner of Louis XIV., of France, t and his character
* Macaulay's Hist. Eng., Chap. ii.
t The Treaty of Dover, concluded early in 1670, stipulated that
the French King should give ~200,000 a year in quarterly payments,
to enable the King to begin in England a project of reducing that




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTOTY,.Lo7
has been concisely summed up by an eminent British
statesman of more recent times, as unprincipled, ungrateful, mean, treacherous, vindictive and remorseless, and
adds: "I doubt whether a single instance can be produced
"of his having spared the life of any one, whom motives,
" either of policy or of revenge, prompted him to destroy." *
As to American affairs, he appears to have had little
thought, and to have left theml to the direction of others,
being too indolent to trouble himself with details, and too
much absorbed in the trivial follies of the court, to notice
events so remote.
James, Duke of York, was three years younger. In
1648, being then fifteen years of age, he had escaped in
disguise to Holland, and during Cromwell's term of power
he had chiefly resided in France, Spain and Holland, and
much of the time as a volunteer in the French and Spanish
armies.t  All historians agree that he was in every respect
far superior to his brother in talent, industry, and application to business.
He returned to England in 166(0,i being thlen twentyseven years of age, and accc'ting a p)art of the duties of
the government which his indolent brother was quite
country to an acceptance of the Catholic religion. When settled
there a combined attempt was to be mnade by France and England
against Holland, and the several Dutch proviiwes were to be divided
lamong the victors in a manner previously arranged.-[Clarke's
J ames II, i., 433; Carrel's Hist. of the Counter Revolution in England, p. 89.
* Fox's Hist. of the early part of the reign of James II., p. 68.
t In joining the Spanish army in a war against Portugal, James
became their High Admiral, under the title of " Principe de l, Mare,"
an offce which lie was told had never before been given to any but
the King's sons, or near relatioas.-[Clarke's James II., i., p. 381.: The King landed at Dover with his brothers, James, Duke of
York, and Henry, Duke of Gloucester, on the 22d, and entered
Loadon on the 2Xth of MLay, 1660. —[Clarke's James II., i., 382.
18




138           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
willing to get rid of, he became quite influential in public
affairs. Released from the parade and ceremony surrounding royalty, he was brought more in contact with the busy
world, and at liberty to engage in private enterprises
unbecoming the dignity of a king, however worthy of the
ambition of a subject. His intimate relations with his
brother gave him ready access at all times, and an easy
concession of whatever privilege or favor he might be
pleased to ask. As through him these favors might be
gained by others, he naturally became the object of their
courteous attentions, and a man of great weight and
influence in business affairs. "It must be remembered,"
says Clarke,* writing of events in 1663-4, "that ever since
"his return into England he made it his business, as being
"Lord High Admirall,t to inform himself of the condition
"of the Fleet, which, tho' much increased in number of
"Ships by the Usurpers, was then by the many changes' and revolutions after the death of Cromwell, but in an ill
"condition, the Navall Forces quite exhausted, and the
" Magazines very empty; of which he gave a speedy account
"to the King, who ordered ihatters so with the Parliament
"'that they voted him a sum of ~1,200,000 to be disposed
"of by him as the necessitys of the State should require.
"Besides the care which the Duke had of the Navy, he
"applyd himself to understand the business of Trade,
"which is the great interest of England, and gave all
"encouragements to the severall trading Companies, as
* Life of James II., by Rev. J. S. Clarke, i., 399.
t "Among the first acts of royalty exercised by Charles the
"Second, after taking regular possession of his throne, was that of
"declaring his brother Lord High Admiral. The diligence and
"indefatigable attention shewn by him to the functions of his
"office, were extremely grateful to the people, and convinced them
"that their sovereign's choice had been influenced by prudence as
"well as by fraternal affection."-[Charnock's Biographia Navalis,
i., p. 1.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.            139
"'those of the East Indies,* Turkey,t Hambourgh,: and
"Canary, ~ and moreover he sett up a new one for Guiny, it
"which was absolutely necessary for the Support of the
"Foreign Plantations, and from hindering the Dutch from
"being absolute masters of the whole Guiny trade.
"And whereas the Dutch, during the Civill Wars in
"England, had everywhere increashed much upon the
"English Trade, and had dispossessed the English of the
"Castle of Cormentin, on the Gold Coast. The Duke at
"his first setting up the Guiny or Royall Affrican  omrpany,
"borrowed two Ships of his Maty, and sent Sir Robert
"Holmes with them, and with some other Ships belonging
"to the Company, and some few land men with which,
" according to his orders, he seized the fort at Cap de Vert,
"in Affrica, and took the Castle of Cormentin from the
"Dutch, leaving garrisons in both of them, and settling
"Factorys for the Company all allong that coast.
"Some time after this the King gave the Duke a Patent
"for Long Island in the West Indies, and the Tract of land
"between New England and Mary Land, which always
"belonged to the Crown of England since it was first dis"covered; upon which the Dutch had also incroached
* Incorporated by Elizabeth, about the year 1600.
t Incorporated by Elizabeth; enlarged by James I.
$ Founded in the days of Edward I., in 1296, and chiefly engaged
in the trade of wool and woolen manufactures.
~ Incorporated in 1664, by Charles II.
1I The Royal African Company was incorporated in the fourteenth
year of Charles II., (1662) with exclusive privileges of trade from
Sallee in Southern Barbary, to the Cape of Good Hope. It was the
fourth English trading company that had been founded for the
African trade, others having been founded in 1588, 1618 and 1631.
In 1672 another was founded, which was re-modelled in 1695. The
Slave trade appears to have been a leading object of these companies.




140           PEMAQCIfD IN ITS RELATIONS
"during the Rebellion, and built a Town, and some Forts,
"to secure the Bever Trade to themselves; wherefore the
"Duke borrowed two men of war of the King, in which he' sent Collonel Richard Nicholas,* (an old Officer and one
"of the Grooms of his Bed-chuamber,) with three hundred
"men, to take possession of that Country; which the;
"Dutch gave up upon Composition without stricking a
"strok, most of the Dutch inhabitants remaining there,
"together with the old English Inhabitants, and some other
"Nations who had first planted there with the English; So
"that Collonel Nicholas* remained in peacable possession
"of that Country, which was then called New York, and
"the fort up the River named Albany. And so the Duke
"did all on his side to advance Trade.
"These proceedings, and the Severall complaints of our
"Marchents of the injurys they received from the Dutch,
"by their depredations of them during the late disturben"ces in England, were a sort of preamble and introduction
"to the wars which soon after followed against Holland;t
"for it now grew to be the Sense of the whole Nation, and
"of the House of Commons in particular, that Satisfaction
"ought to be given to our Marchants for the injuries and
"losses they had sustaind by the unjust incroachments of
"the Hollanders, which losses were represented to amount
"to seven or eight hundred thousand pounds."
Thus we see that jealousies of trade were a leading
motive in the interference of the English with the Dutch
of New Netherland, and that this event was only a part of
an extended and systematic plan of reprisals upon a nation
the rival of England in naval power and colonial enterprise.
I need not remind the student of English history, of the
prominent part then taken in public affairs by the Earl of
* Nicolls.
t War was declared against Holland March 4, 1664-5.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.               141
Clarendon, then Lord High Chancellor of England.* He
had sprung from the middle, not the higher rank of society,
and from a respectable but not illustrious ancestry. Educated as a lawyer, he had raised himself by his talents to
* Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Lord Clarendon, was the third
son of Lawrence Hyde, and his family is traced back to the Norman
conquest. He was born February 18, 1608. His father designed
him for the Church, but preferring the law, he practised some years
with success, was elected to Parliament, and there, laying aside all
other business for the service of the State, he came to the notice of
Charles I., in 1641, from the zeal which he manifested for the
Church, and the royal cause. In 1671, he declined the office of
Solicitor General, and the next year we find him entrusted with the
King's affairs in parliament. Of his character as a statesman it has
been said:
" He was of a cheerful and open nature, without dissimulation,
"delivering his opinions on men and things without reserve or
"disguise, and so tenacious of his own opinions as never to yield to
" any other man when right, although open to admit his errors when
"wrong. Had a profound veneration for the English Constitution,
"believing it well balanced. A strenuous advocate of the royal
"prerogative, but jealous at the least appearance of aggression on
"either side, and would never consent to any measures tending to
"disturb this due balance of power, upon which, in his opinion,
"depended the hopes of the future as to the stability of the State."
He was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a Privy councillor by Charles I., and while in exile at Bruges in Flanders, in 1657,
was appointed Lord High Chancellor of England. In 1661, he
became Viscount Cornbury, and Earl of Clarendon. This title, first
enjoyed by Sir Edward Hyde, was derived from a spacious park
near Salisbury, formerly the site of a royal palace, but more
remarkable as the place where King Henry II. summoned the
great council of peers and prelates, in 1164, from which emanated the
celebrated regulations known as the " Constitutions of Clarendon,"
by which the clergy were made amenable to the civil power.
His lordship attained celebrity, not only as a lawyer and statesman, but as a historian, and by command of Charles II. wrote the
"History of the Rebellion," and other works. Walpole in speaking
of him says: "He acted for Liberty, but wrote for the prerogative."
Burnet remarks that he was "a good minister, indefatigable in




142             PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
a seat in Parliament, and an eminent judicial station under
Charles I., whose fortunes he served till the end. Then
sharing the exile of the remnant of the royal family, he
remained faithful to their interests in foreign lands, and
was trusted and counselled in a remarkable degree by the
widowed Queen of England and her stricken family in
France. No storm was ever yet so fierce as not to be
followed by a calm; no night so dark but that the morning
would usher in another day. We may well believe, that
those who in exile still clung to the fortunes of the Stuart
family, and saw in these orphan princes the future kings of
a restored monarchy, would often cast their eyes across the
Channel with sadness at hope deferred, and watch with
listening ears for the first murmurs of discontent. The
morning at length came, and England, weary with the
"business, but too magisterial, and not enough acquainted with
"foreign affairs."
There were faults in his manner toward those who thought themselves neglected, and whom he was apt to reject with contumely,
and some disparagement of their services, which made him many
enemies, and at last hastened his downfall. The great seal was
taken from Clarendon in 1667, and a popular torrent of opposition
arose against him which he was unable to stand. Being banished,
he retired to France, and died at Roon, in Normandy, December
19, 1674.
In his memoirs, speaking of the period when he was highest in
favor, and at about the time that he was busy with correspondence
on Austrian affairs, it is said:
"The Chancellor was the highest in Place, and thought to be so
"in trust, because he was most in private with the king, had man"aged most of the secret correspondence in England, and all
"dispatches of importance had passed through his hands; which
"had hitherto been with the less envy, because the indefatigable
" pains he took were very visible, and it was visible that he gained
"nothing by it."
His name, more than that of any other British Statesman of his
day, will have interest with the student of American history, from
the attention which he gave to our Colonial affairs.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.          143
changes and uncertainties of the interregnum, willingly
returned to their regal form of government, and public
affairs to their old channels.
While in France Prince James had formed an attachment
for Anna, a daughter of Chancellor Clarendon, which
afterwards resulted in a secret marriage. Two daughters
by this marriage afterwards became reigning Queens of
England: Mary, consort of William, Prince of Orange, and
Anne, who succeeded William III. on the throne. The
Earl of Clarendon appears to have taken particular interest
in American affairs, and as the project of dispossessing
the Dutch of New Netherland began to take definite form,
he negotiated with Lord Stirling for certain claims to lands
on the New England coasts, which had been acquired as
follows:
The patent to the Plymouth Company in 1620, embraced
the whole New England coast, as far northward as fortyfive degrees north latitude, or about to the mouth of the
St. Croix river. The Company after making sundry grants,
found many obstacles in the way of colonization, and in
June, 1635, surrendered the great patent to the king, with
the design of receiving particular patents of such parts
along the coast as might be sufficient for their use. This
surrender was made June 7, 1635.t But before this was
done, to wit: on the twenty-second of April, 1635, the
Company by and with the consent, direction and appointment of Charles I., issued letters patent to William, Earl
of Stirling, his heirs and assigns, "for a tract of the Maine
"land of New England, beginning at St. Croix, and from
"thence extending along the sea coast to Pemaquid, and
"the river Kennebeck," to which was added the islands of
Long Island, and all the islands thereto adjacent. +
* Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerages, p. 289.
t Hazard's State Papers, i., 393.
\ Hayes' Vindication of the Rights and Titles of Alexander, Earl
of Stirling and Dovan, Part i., p. 34.




144             PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
To establish settlements under this title, James Farrett
was sent over about 1637, as agent of the Earl of Stirling,
and some of the present land titles upon Long Island,
Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, etc., were traced from this
source.
About the year 1663, and while the enterprise against
the Dutch was under consideration, the Earl of Clarendon
on behalf of his son-in-law, the Duke of York, bought the
rights of Stirling above mentioned, agreeing to pay the
sum  of ~3,500, which in 1674 was changed to a pension of
~300 per annum, out of the revenues of the New York
Colony.*
* Colonial Hist. of New York, iii., 606.
It is well known that James II. left a series of manuscript vollumes, containing memoirs of the events of his day, and his
correspondence, which were afterwards lodged in the Scotch
College at Paris, and are supposed to have been destroyed during
the French revolutions of 1789-92.-[Clarke's Life of James II., i.,
Preface, p. xiv.-xix.; Fox's Hist. of the early part of the Reign of
James II., Introduction, p. xxv.
The loss of these manuscripts may have thrown into oblivion
facts tending to elucidate some points of our Colonial history, that
will now probably forever remain obscure. Amlong these we may
conjecture that the scheme of territorial aggrandizement, implied
in the Royal Patent from Charles II. to his brother the Duke of
York, confirming and including thle purchase from Lord Stirling,
may have been prompted by personal ambition, and a desire to
establish in the line of his family a vice royalty, or possibly a government more substantial and independent upon the American
Continent.
The marriage of Charles II. to the Infanta of Portugal, in 1662,
might have reasonably given rise to the expectation of lawful issue
to inherit the crown of England, and the Earl of Clarendon whose
daughter had married the Duke of York, would as naturally
anticipate the contingencies best calculated to advance the interests
of her descendents. In the acquirement of colonial territories of
vast extent and great wealth of resources, it is quite probable that
both the Duke and the Earl may have looked forward to a time when
these transatlantic possessions, with ample powers of government,




TO OTUR COLONIAL HISTORY.           145
Let us now briefly notice some other affairs of more local
character, which may be presumed to have had relation to
the events which followed.
Among those whose influence was most sensibly felt in
promoting the English expedition against the Dutch of
New Netherland, in 1664, we may justly mention Mr.
Samuel Maverick.
He had settled on Noddle's Island,* in Boston Harbor,
(now East Boston,) at about the beginning of that colony.
He was a man of great hospitality, and as Josselyn, who
visited him in July, 1638, says, —"the only hospitable man
"in all the country, giving entertainment to all comers
"gratis," t and once at least, to his great disadvantage,
being heavily fined for receiving some fugitives. He was a
man of substantial means, and aided most liberally in the
erection of harbor defenses; in short, as Mr. Drake, the
historian of Boston, has well remarked, "A man that
"Boston could not do without."+    In religious faith he
was attached to the Episcopal forms of the English establish church.~ It appears that he was liberal in his religious
views, and that he advocated a freedom of thought, and
and vast opportunities for development, might become an object
worthy of the highest ambition, and second only to that of royalty
itself. This is of course only conjecture, founded upon the circumstances we have noticed. It is well known that Clarendon was
instrumental in bringing about the marriage of Charles II., for
which he was. afterwards blamed. —[Memoirs and Travels of Sir
John Reversby, p. 167.
* This island was granted to Maverick, April 1, 1633, he being
required to pay yearly, at the General Court, to the Governor, either
a fat wether, a fat hog, or eleven shillings in money, and to allow
wood to be brought from the south part to Boston and Charlestown.
-[Records of Massachusetts, i., p. 104.
t Account of two voyages to New England, London, 1674.
i Drake's Hist. of Boston, p. 296.
~ Hutchinson.
19




146            PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
liberty of discussion, altogether inconsistent with the strict
and narrow exclusiveness of the people among whom he
dwelt, insomuch that he in time came to be regarded as the
enemy of their government, and the foe of religion.
More especially did he incur the active hostility of those
in power, in the spring of 1646, by uniting with Dr. Robert
Child, and a few others, in a remonstrance and humble
petition to the general court. In this, after some words of
pleasant compliment to the government, for its "eminent
"gifts, continual care and constant vigilance, which hath
"procured unto this wilderness Peace and Plenty, while
"their native land was so sharply afflicted with the devour"ing sword," they called attention to the "poor handfull
"here planted," and to the storm which was hanging over
their heads, prepared to burst upon them as a punishment
for their sins. They reminded the general court of the
"unwonted malignant sicknesses," and other evils that
afflicted the country as inferentially caused by the intolerance and disregard of the laws of England in the colony.*
The wicked authors of this memorial were severely handled
for this freedom of petition, and Maverick among others
was heavily fined. But these proceedings had at least this
effect, that the civil authorities of this embryo Republic
applied to the Elders for their opinions, as to how far the
laws of England were binding upon the government of
Massachusetts, nor could they consistently reconcile these
harsh proceedings with any theory short of that which
assigned paramount authority to the laws of their own
making. This view although agreeable to their feelings,
was, however, a century and more too early for prudent
* This petition at length may be found in New England's Jonas
Cast Up, etc. It was signed by Robert Child, Thomas Fowle,
Samuel Maverick, Thomas Burton, David Yale, John Smith, and
John Dand. See also, Drake's Boston, p. 293; Oliver's Puritan
Commonwealth, p. 424; Records of Massachusetts, ii., 162, 175,
196.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.           147
avowal, and the advice which the Elders returned, was to
the effect that whatever powers or privileges the colony
enjoyed were dependent upon their charter,* that instrument so often claimed as a shelter against unpleasant
interference by English officials, while it operated as a
license for whatever measures they deemed favorable to
their rising Commonwealth.
These and other proceedings appear to have alienated
Maverick from the Massachusetts government, if indeed he
ever had any affection for it. At a later period, we learn
from his correspondence that he spent a year in Virginia,
and from the acquaintance which he evinced in the location
and affairs of the Dutch of New Netherland, and the
Delaware, he may doubtless have visited these settlements.
Soon after the restoration of the Monarchy, Maverick
opened a correspondence with the Earl of Clarendon,t
then Lord High Chancellor of England, fully in the
confidence of the king, and a man of great weight in the
government. His intimate relation with the Duke of York
has been already noticed, and the enterprising and businesslike habits of that prince, must have led him to a
knowledge of this correspondence which promised a
favorable chance for extending his acquaintance with the
Colonies. The prior claims of the English by right of
early discovery, the vast resources of trade by means of
navigable rivers extending far into the Indian country, the
fertility of the soil, and scanty.means of defense were
strongly represented, and the means necessary for the conquest of the country were so exactly stated, that we may
* Drake's Boston, p. 295.
t A series of documents entitled "The Clarendon Papers," published in the collections of the New York Historical Society for 1869,
contains many letters from Maverick to the Earl of Clarendon, from
which many principal statements of the text concerning him are
derived. Other papers bearing upon the subject are contained in
the Colonial Hist. of New York.




148           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
readily believe the expedition of 1664, which reduced New
Netherland and its dependencies to be a direct result of
these urgent appeals, supported and justified by the inquiries that may have been made concerning their foundation.
Nor did the misrule of Massachusetts, as Maverick
regarded it, pass without the most direct specification,
accompanied by explicit advice as to the means by which
their wayward conduct could be cured, and the royal
authority firmly established. He mentions the hospitable
reception of Whalley and Goffe, the regicides, the strictly
exclusive limitations of the elective franchise, by which,
according to his estimate, three-fourths of the inhabitants
were disfranchised and debarred from office by the
remainfng fourth, who being church members and freemen,
were alone permitted to control the government. All
others were denied the sacraments of religion, and the free
enjoyment and open expression of their opinions. The
dominant party managed affairs quite in their own interest,
and in their own way, as if the powers of government
were wholly vested in themselves, with only a vague
accountability in theory to a power higher than their own.
In short, these fearless, independent and thinking statesmen,
whose stubborn wills and firm adherence to principle was
as solid as the granite rocks of their rugged coast, had
built up a system of local government, which he declared
was more like a state or a commonwealth than a British
colony. No oath of allegiance had been administered,
save to support the local charter government, and rebellion
against this was a capital crime. The English colors had
been insulted and defaced, freedom of speech against the
party in power suppressed with a strong hand, and dissenters from the faith as there received, driven beyond the
borders. As to the feeling on the death of Charles I., he
says:
"At the Arrivall of the said Newes of his Mats death,
" most of them seemed to rejoyce, and Some of ym expressed




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.          149
" soe much in words, being then at Supper together. He
"was not thought to have taken a pertinent text, if not
"such as these:'He pulls down ye mightye from their
"'Seate and Exalts the humble and meeke.''And I will
"' Overturne, Overturne."' *
In short, he insisted that this growing tendency must be
checked, if colonial dependence was to be maintained.
Another correspondent of the Council for Foreign Plantations, writing in March, 1661, (Captain Thomas Breedon)
says: "It is not unknowne to you that they looke on
"themselves as a Free State, and how they sate in Council
"in December last, a weeke, before they could agree of
"writing to his Matie there being too many against owning
"the King, or their haveing any dependance on England." t
The remedies that Maverick prescribed were, an embargo
and non intercourse for a time, cutting off trade with the
West Indies, and supplies from Britain, until dependence
was felt and acknowledged, a general governor over the
whole of New England, the recall of charters, as forfeited,
an extension of the privileges of freemen, freedom of
conscience, and as light a burden of taxes as possible.
He urged the appointment of Commissions for the dividing
up of land into several subordinate governments, and for
devising plans of revenue, and with a patriotism not
unlike that of the office seeker of modern times, he adds,
"myselfe and one or two more well experienced there,
"shall at all tymes waite on your Lordship to shew our
"weake apprehensions, if desired."
These considerations and much more of the same tenor,
urged by Samuel Maverick both in personal interview and
by letter, taken in connection with the events that followed,
* Clarendon Papers, Coil. N. Y. Hist. Soc., 1869, p. 24.
t Clarendon Papers, Collec. N. Y. Hist. Soc., 1869, p. 17. An
address to the King was agreed upon at the first day of the meeting
of the General Court, Dec. 19, 1660.-[Records of Mass., iv., Part
i., p. 449.




150           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
very much in the manner he had advised, lead us to infer
that not only was the reduction of New Netherland largely
due to his suggestions, but that the attempt to annihilate
the charters, and to consolidate the several New England
governments into one, which was made soon after the
accession of the Duke of York as James II., may have
been first suggested by him. As for his motives, he
solemnly affirms in his correspondence with Clarendon:
"Truly my Lord, whatever I have declared is truth, I have
"no selfe end in what I have donn, only a desire (yf it may
"be) that as I saw the first settlement of those pts so that
"I may see the reducement of them under his Malties obe" dience." On another occasion he declares:. "I can truly
" and wth confidence affirme, that neither avarice, ambition,
" or desire of revenge, hath put me on what I have donn in
"this business from first to last. It is zeale to his
"Maties Service, and affection to the many thousands of
"his Maties loyall subjects, and my sufferinge friends
"wch hath made me so bould att this tyme, as formerly to
"be troublesome to your Lordship." *
The plans for reducing the Dutch to English allegiance
having been perfected, a fleet of four ships and an overpowering force appeared in the harbor of New Amsterdam,
in August, 1664, and on the 27th of that month, articles of
surrender were signed without attempting resistance.
The English, upon succeeding to the Dutch of New
Netherland, found a government organized upon the theory
that while its burdens should be tolerable, and its opportunity for the acquirement and possession of property ample,
its authority should be unquestioned. A Director General
and Council exercised executive, legislative, and judicial
authority as they deemed the interests of the colony to
require, admitting no superiors but the Amsterdam Chamber of the Dutch West India Company and the State
* Clarendon Papers, Coll. N. Y. Hist. Soc., 1869, p. 33.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.         151
General of Holland, and frowning into silence the murmurs
of such English subjects on the western end of Long
Island as had ventured to demand a voice in the enactment of the local laws that governed them. The feudal
law of the Netherlands had been introduced, and manors
endowed with peculiar privileges, strange to the selfgoverning colonies of New England, but consistent with
the general tenor of English law, had been established.
In short, a general habit of obedience to authority when
not oppressive, had rendered this colony a favorable stock
upon which to engraft the institutions and the laws of
England, and the Dutch colony became a ducal province
with scarcely more disturbance than that we now a days
observe, when a state, or the nation, after going through
the stormy discussions of a political campaign, in which
the most opposite theories of government are urged, and
the gravest disasters promised by each, under the rule of
the other. Yet no sooner is the result of the election
known, than the victorious party becomes moderate and
conciliatory, and the defeated are led to admit that their
opponents, after all, evince some talent for government, and
may be well meaning, although they could themselves do
better. If one party becomes watchful, the other becomes
wary; one seeking to detect, and the other to avoid just
occasion for censure, and both for effect on the next
election.
Thus New Netherland became New York, but so quietly
that business went on the next day as it had the day
before, and with so little change in their local affairs, that
the steady and quiet burghers scarcely felt the change.
The affairs of the English Colonies at this period stood
as follows: Maine, westward from the Sagadahoc or
Kennebeck, had been granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges,
in 1639, with ample powers of government, as well as title
to soil, but the inhabitants of its scattered settlements, as




152           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
well as those of Mason's Patent in New Hampshire, had
long before accepted the jurisdiction of Massachusetts.
I am aware that in the presence of the child, one should
speak with due respect of the parent. But as more than
fifty years have passed since Maine has been accustomed
to think and act for herself, and with full maturity of
intellect can now examine questions which would once
have scarcely been admitted to argument, let me ask:
Was there ever a people, at all times so ready and willing
to govern themselves and their neighbors as this same
colony of Massachusetts Bay, in New England?
We know how her broad right wing extended down the
eastern coast as far as Englishmen dwelt, or claimed title,
none being allowed to question authority or critcise forms,
provided they bore the sanction of her General Court.
New Plymouth, separate for a time, could never show the
royal sanction of her title, and was finally absorbed by her
ambitious neighbor. On the conquest of the Pequots of
Connecticut, Massachusetts claimed a part of the soil as
her share of the spoils, and gave municipal laws to a town
within the limits of another colony.*  When a party of
her citizens set out in 1635 to penetrate the wilderness,
and found a settlement in the then scarcely known region
of the Connecticut, a part of their outfit consisted of a
town charter, or an instrument for local government, which
gave to the grantees, "in a legal and open manner, by way
"of Court, to proceed in execution of the power and
" authority aforesaid; and in case of necessity, two of them
"joining together to inflict corporal punishment upon any
* A tract between the Mystic river on the west, and the Wecapaugh, (a brook four miles east of Pawtucket) on the east, in the
present town of Stonington. The town of "Southern" received a
charter, October 1656, from Massachusetts. The jurisdiction was
settled by the commissioners of the United Colonies, as within the
bounds of Connecticut.-[Colonial Records of Conn., 1636-65; 166577.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.               153
"offender, if they see good and warrantable ground to do
so."
As a citizen of New York I have a right to remember
that this left wing of authority extended beyond the Connecticut, and that she set up claims under a vague and
random grant of the colonial charter, extending westward
between certain parallels of latitude, to the south seas.
Under these claims she asked protection for her settlers on
the Hudson, and proposed to extend her surveys far
beyond that river.t
* Hazard's Am., State Papers, i., 321.
t 1659, 12: 9mo. "In ansr to the peticon of Tho. Clarke, Wm
"Payne, Tho. Lake, John Richards, George Corwin, & Walker Princ,
"in behalfe of themselves & company, the Court judgeth it meete
"to order that a present clajme be made of our just lights upon
"Hudson's River, neere the Fort of Awrania, [Orange] by a letter
" from this Court to the Dutch governor desiring that free liberty
"be permitted, according to the custom of nations, by theire efforts
"to or from such toune or tounes as shall be erected there wthin our
" jurisdiction, & order the sajd letter to be delivered to Major Wm
" Hauthorne & Mr John Richards, whom this Court hath appointed
"Messengers for that end from this Court, & also from the com"pany. And itt is further graunted by this Court that the trade
"wthin fiveteene miles of the sajd river shall be setled only on the
"peticoners & company, for twelve yeares now next ensuing, and to
"have liberty to trade such comoditjes as the Dutch usually trade,
"provided that any freeman of this jurisdiccon may come in & be
"admitted to that company betweene this and the next Generall
"Court by theire allowance; the sajd messengers carrying the
" Court's letter to ye Dutch governor at the sd companys charge."
-[Records of Mass., iv., part 1, page 395.
1660, May 31. "Itt is ordered that Major Humphry Atherton,
" Mr Jno Pinchon, & Left Roger Clap shall & hereby are impowred
"as a comittee for the runing of the south lyne of this colony, &
"the same to be,continewed forty miles, more or lesse, on the
" southwest of Hudson's River, and to agree wth such artists as
" they may best gajne for the effecting thereof, & all theire chardges
"to be repajd by the Treasurer of the country."-[Ib. 424.
In March 1672, John Paine was sent to settle claims on the Hudson river.-[Gen. Entries, iv., 177, 178. Secretary's Office, Albany.
20




154           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
These claims were not urged during the colonial period,
but were brought forward after the revolution, and finally
referred to the decision of Commissioners appointed by
the two states, in a convention held at Hartford in 1786.
By this, the right of soil in some sixteen counties, now the
finest and fairest within the state of New York, was conceded to Massachusetts, leaving to us the barren honors of
governing as subjects those whom she might send as her
customers.
As for the other colonies, at the period of first English
occupation of New York, we find Rhode Island and Connecticut with newly acquired charters, so acceptable that
they both long survived the colonial system of government
of which they formed a part. New Jersey and Delaware,
so far as then occupied, passing as a part of Dutch
conquest under the authority of the English at New York;
Maryland had been a proprietary government since 1632;
Virginia, after a short existence under a corporate company,
had long before become a Royal province, and further
down the coast the Carolinas were just receiving a proprietary charter, being as yet mostly a stranger to the civil law,
and almost unknown to the world.
With the expedition that made the English masters at
New York, came four Royal Commissioners, one of them
being the same Maverick who had seen and felt so much of
Massachusetts misrule, as he regarded it, and who now
came clothed with general powers to settle disputed
boundaries, hear complaints, redress grievances, and settle
the New England colonies generally in more direct
obedience to the English crown. It was quite natural for
the Massachusetts government to regard him with jealousy,
that they should look upon him as their enemy, and that a
knowledge of this feeling should have led Clarendon to
gently hint, in a letter written in March 1664-5, "I am very
"confident the knowledge you have of their prejudice
"towards you, will make you much the more carefull and




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.          155
"watchfull in your own carriage, that they may have no
"just exception aginst any thing you doe, and that they
"may plainly discerne that you are quite another man in a
"publick trust than what they tooke you to be as a neigh" hour, and that youi have wiped out of your memory all
" impressions which ill treatment might have made in you.
"For if you should reveng any old discourtesies at the
"King's charge, and as his Commissioner should do any
"thing upon the memory of past injuries, the king would
"take it very ill, and do himself justice accordingly."'  I
am not aware that this well intended caution was needed,
or that the confidence placed in Maverick was knowingly
abused. But human nature is alike in all ages, although
the restraints of government may modify its expression.
In the case of Massachusetts, the government was practically the General Court of their own election; and when
we consider that one of these Commissioners had formerly
been their subject, that he had been regarded and treated
as an enemy to their institutions, and that he had probably
left them promising retributive justice, we need not be
surprised to know, that while well received by the other
New England Colonies, they were here regarded with the
greatest jealousy, their authority questioned, their decisions
disregarded, and their proceedings made a subject of
bitter complaint. Mr. Maverick and his associates spent
several weeks in the colony, and visited the eastern parts.
They mention the inhabitants of the region beyond the
Kennebec as without government, and they commissioned
magistrates at Pemaquid and other settlements on that
coast.t
* Colonial Hist. Si. Y., iii., 92.
t The subsequent career of Maverick has not been fully traced.
He received from the Duke of York a house on Broadway, in the
city of New York, for which, in a letter dated October 15, 1669, he
expresses abundant gratitude.-[New York Colonial History, iii.,
185.] This is the latest mention we find of him in the New York




156           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
Beyond this exercise of authority, and a friendly letter
from Governor Lovelace, in February 1672-3,* we find no
evidence that the government of New York paid special
attention to these eastern dependencies for the next ten
years. In August 1673, New York fell again into the hands
of the Dutch, but by the treaty of Westminster, February
9, 1674, between England and the States General, each
power agreed to surrender all conquests of the war, and
of course New York was included in this agreement. On
the 29th of June, 1674, the Duke of York obtained a
renewal of his former grants to silence all questions of
title, that might be raised on account of the interruption of
authority by the Dutch, and on the 1st of July he
appointed Major Edmond Andros as his Lieutenant Governor of New York, with which the country east of the
Kennebec was expressly included. The English occupation
of New York was not, however, resumed until November
following, and in the mean time, in the summer of 1674, a
court was held at Pemaquid by authority of the General
Court of Massachusetts. It is therefore just two hundred
years ago the present year since English authority was
restored to New York and its dependencies, and excepting
as reduced in boundaries by sale and transfer, it remained
unchanged until overthrown by revolution, leaving still in
the land-titles, laws and customs, lasting evidences of its
power.
In August, 1676, just after the death of Philip, and
before that event could be known here, Pemaquid was
attacked and burned by the Indians, but the inhabitants
having notice of danger, mostly escaped. As soon as news
of this event was received, the New York Council resolved
to send a sloop to bring away as many as chose to come,
records, and it is generally supposed that he died in that city not
long afterwards.
* Pemaquid Papers, (Coll. Me. Hist. Soc., v.,) p. 6.




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.         157
and to give them land in any part of the government they
might choose.* On the 9th of June, 1677, the council
resolved to send eastward to assert the Duke's interests at
Pemaquid, make peace with the Indians, and restore and
protect the inhabitants.t Lieutenant Anthony Brockholls,
Ensign Casar IKnapton, and Mr. Mathias Nicolls, were sent
to build a fort, and establish the Duke's authority with
blank commissions of the peace, to be filled with such
names as they might find worthy. Under these orders
Fort Charles was built, being probably like the former one,
made of earth and surmounted by timbers. It was garrisoned by troops under authority of New York, while it
remained an appendage to that government, and its
subsequent history under this authority presents few details
that can interest the living age. A custom house was
established at Pemaquid, at which all vessels trading
within the Duke's territories in these parts, were to enter.
Land was to be given to settlers at a nominal quitrent of
one shilling per one hundred acres per annum, but for
mutual aid, families were not to be allowed to settle less
than twenty in number in a new place, and all settlers were
to provide themselves with arms and ammunition. Several grants of land are still extant, showing that this
authority was exercised to a certain extent, but we do not
learn that the government of New York made especial
effort to extend settlements in these remote dependencies.
From a petition of the settlers of New Dartmouth, a
settlement on the Duke's territories west of the Damariscotta, in 1684,: we learn, that although they had civil
magistrates, and were entitled to the same privileges of
government as the other parts of the colony under his
Royal Highness, the same abuse of military power had
grown into practice here, that we so often find elsewhere,
* Pemaquid Papers, p. 8.
t Ib., p. 14.
t Ib., p. 95.




158           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
and in all ages, where responsibility is remote, opportunities
for its exercise easy, and prospect of restraint scarcely to
be apprehended. This tendency to aggression has led the
framers of our Constitutions to insert the declaration now
everywhere accepted as an essential feature of our government, that the military shall be subordinate to the civil
power in time of peace.
In the affairs we are noticing, the settlers complain that
they had among them    one Captain Manning, with a
company of soldiers, who was very troublesome; that he
meddled with their town business, disturbed their public
meetings, and "brags that his power is better than ours,
"and sayth that he will settle whom he will, and where
" he pleases." They also complain of a party among them,
claiming that the authority of Massachusetts is paramount
to that of New York, and that between these evils, while
they are claimed as the subjects of both governments,
they enjoy the protection of neither. Their justices were
overawed and threatened, and justice was unknown.
On the 13th of September, 1683, John Allen was
appointed sheriff, and on the division of New York into
counties, November 1, 1683, the Duke's territories between
the Kennebec and the St. Croix became Cornwall county,
and entitled to one Representative in the General Assembly first established in that year.
Upon the death of Charles II., February 6, 1685, the
Duke of York ascended the throne as James II., and the
Ducal possessions became vested in the crown.
No sooner had this despotic sovereign, whose aversion
to popular rights was only equalled by his fondness for
personal power, assumed the royal office, than he commenced the arbitrary proceedings which hastened his
downfall. In 1686 he undertook to consolidate the New
England governments, and appointed Sir Edmond Andros
as Governor General, suspending the charter governments,
and carrying into effect the measures which Maverick had




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.         159
some twenty-four years before advised as most effectual
for reducing the Massachusetts colony to obedience to the
crown. On the 19th of September, 1686, a royal order
was issued attaching Pemaquid to the new New England
government,* and its subsequent history forms a part of
that of Massachusetts and of Maine. A small garrison was
continued until August 2, 1689, when it was taken and
destroyed by Indians. In 1692, a stone fort was built
under direction of Governor Phipps, and named Fort
William Henry. It was taken by French and Indians in
1696, and for more than thirty years afterwards the whole
region between the Kennebec and Penobscot lay utterly
waste. A stone fort was again erected in 1729, under
Colonel David ]Dunbar, and the traces of this still remain.
The administration of Andros suddenly ended on the
18th of April, 1689, the exasperated citizens of Boston
scarcely waiting for the confirmation of a rumor which
fortunately proved true, to the effect that James had fled,
and that William and Mary, under the brightest auspices,
had become established in the royal power.
I am well aware how utterly detested by all New England
was the character and administration of Sir Edmond
Andros. Without attempting to examine the grounds for
this hatred, which might have fallen with equal weight upon
any other person who might have been chosen to carry
into effect the ambitious designs of the despotic James II.,
I may be permitted to remark, that we find in his career as
governor of New York during the two periods of his
previous administration of the affairs of that colony,
together making nearly five years and a half, nothing to
justify the belief that he was actuated, when left to his own
discretion, by other motives than a desire for the public
good. His father had been master of ceremonies to the
unfortunate Charles I., and he had been trained up from
* Pemaquid Papers, p. 130.




160           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
boyhood in attachment to the family, whose fortunes he
served, through every phase of adversity as well as prosperity, to the end. He had been bred in the school of
arms, and taught the first lesson of the soldier, unquestioning obedience to superior orders. From his association
since early life with the prince, whose short and inglorious
reign we have alluded to, being some four years younger,
he had doubtless been attached to him by the strongest
ties of personal friendship and family interest. At a still
later period, when this royal patron had been driven into
exile, we still find Andros in the confidence of William and
Mary, as governor of Virginia, actively engaged in founding
the college which has borne until our day the united names
of these sovereigns, and bringing order out of chaos, in
the records and business affairs of that colony. Let us
regard him as a man not altogether bad, but rather as the
over-zealous agent of an ambitious and unscrupulous
master.
All rights under Gorges having been purchased, as the
powers of government had long before been acquired by
MIassachusetts, the whole of the Maine coast, as well as the
New Plymouth colony, and the islands off its coast which
had long been connected with New York as Duke's County,
were confirmed to Massachusetts by the Provincial charter
of 1691. This coast remained identical with Massachusetts
in government and interest nearly a hundred and thirty
years, and until the amicable separation of Maine, in 1820.
Let me, before closing, and lest I be misunderstood, say
a few words with reference to the policy which prevailed
in the Massachusetts government in these early years, of
which we have been speaking. It has been mentioned as
strict, intolerent, and aggressive; claiming the protection
of their charter whenever threatened with interference
from the parent government, yet ever willing to find license
therein for any measure that interest might render desirable.
But we must remember that these resolute and self



TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.         161
dependent people lived in an age of intolerance and
oppression, and that they themselves had felt the weight
of that tyranny over mind and conscience, which made the
absolute and unquestioned enjoyment of opinions a privilege worth defending at all hazards. There were not a
few among them who had enjoyed the privileges and borne
the honors of English Universities; there were not many
who had not enjoyed the opportunities of a common
education. Allowed from the first to enjoy the essential
privileges of self government, they were accustomed to
study the principles upon which government is founded,
and, with a freedom startling to those attributing divine
right to kings, they often ventured to assert the right of
men to govern themselves, and so far as circumstances
allowed they applied this theory to practice. In their
persistent defense of rights of territory, under the strict
interpretation of grants made with vague and incorrect
knowledge of the geography of the country, we find
asserted the inviolability of conetracts, a principle now
engrafted upon our Constitutions, beyond the power of
legislation, and firmly established by the binding precedents
of our highest courts.
We find no great landed estates, peopled with an obsequious tenantry, ready to appear as armed regiments
at the word of a lord-proprietor, but a body of freeholders
and freemen, not backward to appear in arms whenever
the public rights were endangered, and ready to return to
their homes when the danger was over. The wealth of
the country, such as it was, we find widely distributed
among those who had acquired it by their own toil, and
who, knowing the worth of property from the hardship of
getting, were the more certain to know how to defend it.
In other colonies we find other causes tending to educate
the people to a similar study of the principles of self
government. The charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut, in allowing the frequent choice of their own governors
21




162           PEMAQUID IN ITS RELATIONS
and legislators from their own number, kept these principles
constantly before them. In New York the arbitrary and
oppressive conduct of royal governors, and the grasping
monopolies of landjobbers, in Pennsylvania the selfish and
indiscreet policy of proprietaries, and in other colonies
various causes of discontent had long continued unredressed,
and gradually raised in each a numerous class of earnest,
fearless and thinking men, who needed but common
grievances to consolidate them in a common cause. These,
the follies of the British Ministry and Parliament supplied
in abundance, and thus brought on the declaration and
defense of that independence for which the events of more
than a hundred years had been preparing.
If one should seek to study the history of our revolution
in the laws of the colonies, he would find little to remark,
at the moment of change from colony to State, beyond the
language of the enacting clause, which ascribes the
sovereign authority to the people, instead of the crown.
Except in this abstract idea of allegiance, affairs went on
under old titles, and former laws, very much as before, the
functions of self government now finding that practical
application, which had long before been well understood in
theory, and in several of the colonies fully familiarized in
practice. Were I asked to name the year of the revolution
in New York, as the time of greatest change, I would
scarcely mention 1774, when the royal governor withdrew
to the protection of the British fleet, and never afterwards
asserted authority, except under the protection of British
arms; nor 1776, when the Declaration of Independence
was endorsed by the Provincial Congress; nor 1777, when
a Constitution was first formally adopted by a convention,
the first of American Constitutions in which the election of
a governor was entrusted directly to the people; nor in
1783, when New York was finally evacuated by British
troops, but the year 1787, in which the first sweeping
reforms were made in our jurisprudence, and the shackles




TO OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.         163
of colonial precedent were first taken from our system of
laws. During the session of that year, Alexander Hamilton
and others of brilliant talent being in the Legislature, and
with such men as Jay, Yates and Livingston in the Council
of Revision, we find enacted a Bill of Rights, the abolition
of right of purveyance, of trial of issues by wager of law,
and of many other medieval forms of justice strangely
inconsistent with modern ideas of personal rights; elections
by ballot now first established on a permanent basis,
having formerly been tried only as an experiment; the
easy pleading in suits at law, and ample remedies against
oppression and fraud; the rights of dower, of inheritance
and possession, defined with a precision formerly unknown;
quitrents made convertible into freehold tenure; the
criminal code reformed so as to operate towards the reform
and not the extermination of mankind; invention stimulated by the first promise of exclusive benefits of steam
navigation to John Fitch, the pioneer in this great line of
enterprise; and our higher institutions of learning established under the supervisions of the Regents of the
University, upon a plan in which we have since found little
chance for improvement.
Thus, in the study of history, we may find the landmarks
of progress, not always marked by great and startling
events, but quietly planted along the course of time, which,
beginning with absolute obedience of the masses to the
will of kings, and the guarded rights of privileged classes,
leads down through centuries of reform, to the system of
government we now enjoy. If our Revolution was begun
in the early days of colonial poverty, when common
dangers taught the need of common defense, and neglect
the first lessons of self government, let us not suppose
that it was finished when independence was acknowledged.
Let us rather regard this event as one in the series which
shall end only when justice and equal rights to all shall be
firmly established everywhere in our land, and our rulers




164      PEMAQUID AND OUR COLONIAL HISTORY.
from high to low degree impressed with the useful lesson,
that nothing short of strict integrity and honor, not in
profession only, but in practice, through every detail of
business duties, will gain places of power, or secure a day's
continuance longer than deserved.




ARTICLE      IX.
MATERIALS FOR A
HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX:
BEING COPIES AND ABRIDGEMENTS OF DOCUMENTS IN THE
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH,
BOSTON, MASS.
MADE BY
JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST.








FORT HALIFAX.
FROM COUNCIL RECORDS.
1754, Feb. 8. [Vol. 2, page 327.] A letter was received
from William Lithgow, dated January 23, concerning a
French fort said to have been erected at the head of
Kennebec River. Lithgow was instructed to enlist a
number of men, and a commission of instruction was prepared for John North to proceed up that river, where said
fort stands, and upon discovery thereof, to demand of the
chief officer by what right they had taken possession of
that land.
1754, Aug. 5. Council at Falmouth, where was awaited
the return of Major General Winslow, who had been up
the Kennebec. His Excellency having communicated to
the Board the several letters he had received from him, and
having asked the advice of the Council in relation to the
place for building the new fort proposed to be built on the
Kennebec River: Advised, that his Excellency give orders
for building said fort, (which he proposed to call Fort
Halifax) on an eminence near a fork of land at Taconick
falls, and that a strong blockhouse be erected on the same
fork of land: Advised, that his Excellency give orders that
a road be cut through the woods on the main land between
Fort Halifax and the storehouse at Cushnock.
1754, Oct. 17. [Vol. 18, page 281. Extracts from Governor Shirley's speech.] I caused the forces and workmen




168    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
to proceed to Kennebec River, for building a new fort there,
and ordered the five hundred men to reconnoitre the head
of that river, and the great carrying-place between that and
the Chaudiire. The French Jesuit at Penobscot strove to
prevent those tribes from meeting me. I pitched on the
spot or fork between Sebesticook and Kennebec for Fort
Halifax; the former empties three-fourths of a mile from
Taconnet* Falls, thirty-seven above Richmond Fort, fifty
miles from Penobscot, and thirty-one miles by water and
twenty-two by land from Norridgewock. The head of
navigation on the Kennebec is Cushenoc, and the Plymouth Company have concluded to aid in building a house
there of hewn timber, one hundred feet by thirty-two, and
a blockhouse twenty-four feet square, mounted with four
cannon. I directed a road to be cleared for wheel carriages
from Fort Western at Cushenoc to Fort Halifax at Taconnet. The latter can contain four hundred men, and is to
be garrisoned by one hundred. I also placed a strong
redoubt on an eminence to overlook the country road,
mounted with two small cannon and a swivel. I found no
French settlements. A report that war had been declared
in England against France prevailed there. I tarried
some time with a quorum of the Council at Falmouth, and
formed a route for expresses by whaleboats between
Falmouth and Taconnet; could send orders to Fort Halifax
in about twenty-four hours. I visited Forts Halifax and
Western. The Norridgewocks, though at first averse,
declared their consent, in a formal treaty, to our making
settlements on the river. I dismissed the men before Oct.
17, except one hundred and twenty, viz., one hundred at
Fort Halifax, and twenty at Fort Western.
1754, Wov. 6. [Vol. 18, page 314.]  Dispatches by
express from the commanding officer at Taconnick, Fort
Halifax, inform the Governor that Indians fell upon a
* Ticonic is now the mode of spelling.




IATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  169
party of that garrison, sent out to load with logs for the
use of the fort, at a small distance from it, killed and
scalped one of the soldiers, and carried off four men as
prisoners, one only escaping to the garrison. "This," in
the language of Governor Shirley, "is an act of treachery
" and barbarity in the Indians, which gives a new aspect to
"our affairs and interests in the Eastern parts, and requires' new measures for our security. I have stopped the Prov"ince sloop, with the commander of Fort Halifax on board,
"till it was determined what orders ought to be given on
"the occasion. The sloop being loaded with the winter
"stores for the several forts in the eastern parts, must go
"forth to St. Georges and Pemaquid to be discharged of
"some part of her lading before she will be able to go to
"Cushenoc, with the stores for Fort Halifax. It is deter"mined not to send the presents to the Norridgewocks and
"Penobscots, till satisfaction is obtained that they were not
"concerned in the late attack upon the English near the
"garrison at Taconnet on the Kennebec River."
1754, Nlov. 21. Six thousand pounds raised for payment
of the forces in the late expedition to Kennebec. One
hundred pairs of snowshoes, and as many of moccasins to
be sent to Fort Halifax.
1754, Dec. 10. News by a captive who had purchased
his freedom, and come from Canada, that the French had
formed the design for attacking Fort Halifax with five
hundred French and Indians, who were assembling at
Quebec before he left Montreal. It was proposed to send
to the Captains of the independent companies in the eastern parts to detach and assemble, in all, five hundred men
to be ready at the fort to meet the enemy. Five cohorn
mortars are to be sent there.
1754, Dec. 11.  [Vol. 2, p. 371.]  Advised, that his
Excellency send forthwith to the commander of Fort Halifax the advice he has received of the designs of the French
22




170    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
and English to attack that fortress. Ordered to send also
bedding and clothing.
1754, Dec. 25. [Vol. 18, p. 355.] Two truckmasters
chosen as usual, and John Wheelwright for purchasing
provisions for the truck trade.
Voted, to send forty men to reinforce Fort Halifax, and
that four hundred and sixty men be detached out of said
independent companies nearest said garrison, as minute
men.
1754, Dec. 20. Voted to request the Captain-General to
give orders for reinforcing the garrison at Fort Halifax,
with the further augmentation of sixty effective men, to be
taken out of the independent companies at the eastward,
and to be employed in scouting up the River Kennebec, and
parts adjacent, and' have four hundred more in constant
readiness, to be raised out of said companies and the
militia nearest said garrison, to march instantly for their
relief on the first advice of an attack, or the approach of
an enemy.
It was determined to send a committee of two to examine
the great carrying-place between Kennebec and the Chaudi',re, and great exertions be made to furnish at this
season the garrison at Fort Halifax with provisions,
ammunition, and necessaries, and the fort to be put in the
best possible state of defense.
1754, Dec. 27. Several persons of this province, some
of whom were soldiers taken from the fort at Kennebec,
are now captives in Canada, with others from New Hampshire, and it is proposed to send Captain Phineas Stevens,
of No. 4, to Canada to redeem them. But February 11,
1755, the General Court would employ no more to purchase
captives, because such purchases encouraged the Indians
to continue their depredations on the frontiers.
1755, Mtay 19. LVol. 2, p. 404.] One hundred and fifty
men ordered from Sir William Pepperrell's regiment, and
one hundred and fifty out of other regiments in York




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  171
County, and furnished with ammunition and arms, to escort
provisions, now at the mouth of Kennebec River, intended
for Fort Halifax.
1755, June 10. [Vol. 18, p. 475.] Independent companies in the County of York were called upon to guard the
stores sent to Kennebec River for Fort Halifax, and
refused to appear and engage in that service, which
occasioned a large number of inhabitants in the towns in
said county to be impressed and attended with great grief
and inconvenience to them, and his Excellency was
requested to disband said independent companies.
FROM JOURNAL OF MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
VOL. XXII.
1754, June 10. Voted that the three hundred men
ordered as an augmentation of Colonel Winslow's regiment
to the eastward shall not be entitled to the bounty money
granted for their enlistment, unless they provide themselves
with sufficient arms to the acceptance of the muster master.
[Page 27.] Resolved, that the charge of furnishing
such arms be deducted out of such deficient soldiers'
respective wages.
[Page 28.] Colonel Winslow having represented that
many of the soldiers have families whom they are unable
to leave without support, and others are destitute of
sufficient clothing, it was voted that they have a monthly
advance pay.
[Page 33.] The Governor in his message, (June 12,)
thought it necessary that some of his council should
accompany him to the eastward. The House refused to
appoint a committee.
1754, Nov. 6. [Page 96.] Governor Shirley communicates
to the House that he has lately received dispatches by
express from the commanding officer at Taconic, informing
him that the Indians fell upon a party of that garrison




172    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
sent out to load with logs for the use of the fort at a small
distance from it, and killed and scalped one of the soldiers,
and carried off four more prisoners, one only escaping to
the garrison.
The letters relating to this affair, and other matters of
importance, the Secretary will lay before you.
This act of barbarity and treachery in the Indians gives
a new aspect to our affairs and interests in the eastern
parts, and will require new measures for our security.
The House desired the Governor to stop the presents to
the eastern Indians, ordered this session.
1754, Xov. 12. Thirteen men ordered to be enlisted or
impressed for Taconnet.
1754, Nov. 23.  ~6,000 appropriated to defray the
expense of the late expedition to Kennebec, which provided
for the hire of the transports, seaman's and workmen's
wages, all equally employed with the soldiers in the same
service.
1754, Dec. 21. The Board did not pass the order
relating to the reinforcement of Fort Halifax, because they
were apprehensive that there was not a sufficient quantity
of provisions and necessary stores in the garrison for the
forces already posted there, and the proposed augmentation,
and that the season was so far advanced that the transporting said articles would be attended with great difficulty.
Thereupon the Commissary General was ordered in, and
inquiry made of him as to the state Fort Halifax was in
with regard to provisions, bedding, &c., who answered that
in September last there were provisions for the eighty men
posted there at that time, and that there had been none
sent for the last augmentation of thirty men, there having
been no opportunity of transporting since. That he had
provided about twenty beds, blankets, &c., which he
proposed should go by water to within about fifty miles of
Fort Halifax, from whence they must be transported by
land carriage.




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  173
1754, Dec. 21. A committee was appointed to take into
consideration the state of Fort Halifax, and report what
they think further necessary to be done for the better
securing the same.
1754, Dec. 23. The committee made a report, which
was accepted, and the House voted that his Excellency, the
Captain General, be desired as soon as may be, to appoint
some suitable person to repair to Fort Halifax on Kennebec
River, with special authority to strengthen the same, as
also the blockhouse, a redoubt on the hill near the same,
in such manner as to make the same proof against small
cannon in such parts of those fortresses as are most
exposed to the approach of an enemy, and that the said
person be authorized to govern and conduct the whole
affairs of said garrison during his stay there, and that he
be directed to employ the soldiers in scouting and garrison
duty, and also do the labor necessary to strengthen said
fortresses, at such moderate rates as he may agree with
them for; and in case of the death or sickness of said
person, that his Excellency be desired to appoint some
person to perfect the same; and also that the Captain
General be desired to give orders for reinforcing said
garrison with forty effective men to be taken out of the
independent companies at the eastward. And further that
the Captain General be desired to order four hundred and
sixty men more be raised out of said independent companies, and the militia nearest the said garrison, from whence
they may be best spared, and be held in readiness to march
instantly to their relief on the first advice of an attack or
the approach of an enemy, and that the forty men be kept
in the pay of the government during the time the works
are carrying on for the strengthening said garrison, and
then dismissed, and that said four hundred and sixty men
be entitled to no pay but from the day they shall march.
1754, Dec. 23. The committee reported that it cost for
the pay of the officers and soldiers in the late expedition




174    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
up Kennebec River, ~5,013 7s 6d, and that the balance,
~987 7s 8d, be paid to the workmen and transports in said
expedition.
1754, Dec. 24. Twenty double beds and forty single
blankets ordered to be purchased and sent to Fort Halifax
for the use of the forty men ordered for the reinforcement
of the garrison.
1754, Dec. 27. An agent ordered to be sent to Canada,
in relation to persons now in captivity in Canada, some of
them soldiers, and taken from Fort Halifax.
1755, Feb. 18. Committee appointed to consider the
state of Fort Halifax.
1755, June 10. Eighty men ordered, and no more, to
Fort Halifax.
1755, Aug. 13. Thirty men be made out from the men
ordered for defense of the eastern frontiers, to go and be
employed in guarding the provisions to Fort Halifax, and
guarding the workmen while at work. They shall be
relieved in a time not exceeding three months.
1755, Oct. 30. Fort Halifax, and the storehouse at
Cushenoc to be garrisoned with eighty men and no more.
1756, April 8. A guard ordered for transporting the
provisions and stores wanted at Fort Halifax, to the storehouse at Cushenoc, and that his Excellency be desired to
give orders for supplying Fort Halifax with two cannon,
nine pounders, and a suitable quantity of grapeshot for the
same, provided they can be spared from other forts or
garrisons in the Province, and that his Excellency be
desired to order a discharge of all the soldiers posted at
Fort Halifax, who have been in the service there over
twelve months, provided they desire it, and fresh men can
be supplied from the County of York in their room. And
that Captain Lithgow be directed to give information of
the charge that will arise in shingling or clapboarding the
buildings there, and whether it be the sides, or roofs, or
both, that need the same.




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  175
FROM MESSAGES AND SPEECHES, VOL. I., PAGE 625.
Extractt/rom Governor Shirley's Message, dated Oct. 18, 1754.
In compliance with the vote of the House, I raised
eight hundred men and went to Falmouth, where I had an
interview with the Penobscot and Norridgewock Indians,
and caused the workmen to proceede to Taconnet, with
orders for five hundred men to go up the Kennebec River
and explore if there were any French settlements between
that river and the great carrying-place on the Chaudiere.
The place where I concluded to erect a fort was thirtyseven miles above Richmond, on a fork of land formed by
the Kennebec and Sebasticook, the latter emptying into the
former about three-fourths of a mile from Taconnet Falls.
It is computed to be not quite fifty miles from Penobscot,
and thirty-one from Norridgewock by water, and twenty-two
by land as measured by a chain.
The only known communication which the Penobscots
have with the River Kennebec and the Norridgewock
Indians, is through the Sebasticook, which they cross
within 10 miles from  Taconnet Falls, and their most
commodious passage from Penobscot to Quebec, is through
the Kennebec to the River Chaudiere, so that a fort here
cuts off the Penobscots not only from the Norridgewocks,
but also from Quebec, and as it stands at a convenient
distance to make a sudden and easy descent upon their
head-quarters, is a strong curb upon them, as also upon
the Norridgewocks. As the river is not navigable above
Cushenoc, a storehouse must be erected there, which the
Plymouth Company proposed to build there as per plan.
The vote I accepted, and the Company have built such a
storehouse, which will protect the public stores, as well as
offer inducements to settlers. I caused a road of communication between Cushenoc and Fort Halifax to be cleared
for wheel carriages, and transportation in one day will be
rendered practicable.




176    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
A plan of Fort Halifax shall be laid before you. It is
capable of containing four hundred men, and being
garrisoned with one hundred, is of sufficient strength to
stand an assault which may reasonably be expected to be
made on it by Indians or French with small arms.
As it is overlooked by an eminence from behind, within
cannon shot, I should have chosen and sent orders to have
it placed there, but finding upon examination that the
carriage of stone sufficient for the foundation of a fort of
the dimensions proposed would occupy three teams of oxen
five months, and that it could not be completed until next
summer, and would have cost above double, and considering
the difficulty the French must have to transport cannon
and mortars by land to attack it, there is but little danger
of their attempting it. I ordered Major General Winslow
to proceed in carrying on the fort upon the point of land
where it is now built. General Winslow and his officers,
in a council of war, unanimously fixed upon it as the best
plot of ground near Taconet, and have no doubt it will
answer every purpose. In the mean time, to avoid a surprise of this kind, I have caused a strong redoubt, of
twenty feet square in the second story, and picquetted
round, to be erected on that part of the eminence which
overlooks the country round, and mounted with two small
cannon, two pounders, and one swivel, and garrisoned with
a sergeant's guard of twelve men. It is large enough to
contain five large cannon and fifty men.
The Governor also states that with five hundred men he
went up the river seventy-five miles to the great carryingplace, and explored both sides, that the time occupied was
ten days, and that a survey and plan of the route was
made. That he settled upon a route from Fort Halifax to
Falmouth, for expresses by means of whaleboats, so that
information could be forwarded in twenty hours, and back
again in twenty-four.
General Winslow's journal from the time of leaving, is




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  177
before you.*  I left one hundred men at Fort Halifax,
and twenty at Cushenoc.
EXTRACTS FROM VOLUME MARKED "LETTERS, VOL. IV."
[Page 126.]            FORT HALIFAX, SEPT. 9, 1755.
Letter from  William  Lithgow, Commander at Fort
Halifax, to Colonel Samuel Goodwin, Fort Frankfort,
informing him that "as we were coming up the river
"between Cushenoc and Fort Halifax, we espied sundry
"tracks of Indians, and it appeared by the course of the
"same, that they were going down the river on the western
"side, and further a very large track up Sebasticook River.
"It is judged by us all that the enemy has gone down the
"river in order to fall on the inhabitants," and requests
him to send notice to the exposed places.  Goodwin
received the letter September 11, at ten o'clock A. MI., in
the woods, and communicates to Governor Shirley that he
immediately apprised the settlements at Pemaquid, Walpole, Georges, &c.
[Page 158.]                    SEPTEMBER 26, 1755.
Letter giving Lithgow orders about raising forces to
protect the transportation of provisions and stores to
Fort Halifax.
[Page 291.]                 BOSTON, APRIL 11, 1754.
Letter from government to Captain John Bane to proceed to the Kennebec River, and there make disoveries if
the French are building a fort, to report the result to
Lithgow, commander of Richmond fort, and to approach
as near as possible without hazard, and to take special
notice of the land lying near Kennebec River, between
Cushenoc and Taconnet, and especially near Taconnet
* It is not to be found in the Secretary's office.
23




178    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
Falls, and also observe the falls, and how far it is practicable,
and in what manner to convey provisions and other goods
from Cushenoc and Taconnet.
[Page 298.]                 BOSTON, APRIL 25, 1754.
Colonel John North is ordered by the Governor, agreeably to the request of the Plymouth proprietors, to send a
sufficient number of men well armed, under the command
of Samuel Goodwin, up Kennebec River so far as
Taconnet falls, to view the lands thereabouts, and particularly to observe what timber may be there, suitable for
building a fort. If they meet with Indians they are not to
offer any violence, only in their own defense, and are to
press forward.
[Page 315.]               FALMOUTH, AUG. 29, 1754.
Governor Shirley writes to the secretary at Boston, that
the forces had now returned to Falmouth from Kennebec.
[Page 318.]                FALMOUTH, SEPT. 4, 1754.
The governor writes to the secretary that the province
sloop carried him to Cushenoc and Taconnet, but that for
the sake of expedition, he returned to Falmouth in the
Castle Pinnace.
[Page 334.]                  BOSTON, Nov. 12, 1754.
Bradbury, commander of the fort at St. Georges, and
Lithgow, at Fort Halifax, are instructed by the governor
to maintain a constant correspondence relative to the
Indians, and the safety of his Majesty's posts.
[Page 345.]                BOSTON, JANUARY 3, 1755.
Captain Lithgow is informed by the governor that
Jedediah Preble has been commissioned commander of
Fort Halifax, and in case of his declining the service, you,
(Lithgow,) are enjoined, without waiting for him, to make
provisions for strengthening the fortress, by cutting and




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  179
drawing necessary timber, and fitting it for the work, and
if Colonel Preble does not soon repair to Fort Halifax, you
must proceed to the completion of said work without
delay.
I have ordered forty men as recruits for the garrison at
Fort Halifax, to be continued till tlhe tenth of March
next, and then to be discharged, or continued in case of
any hazard from the enemy.
The Indian, Bartholomew, to act as a pilot through the
woods, and in scouting.
Letter o/f Wliia'm Li'aSoaw to Governor Shlirley.
[Page 360.]          RICHMOND FORT, JAN. hE 9, 1755.
3Iay it pleas yot'r Excellency: The souldery of Fort
Hallifax is in a most deplorable condition for want of
shoes, bedding, and bodyly cloathing, &c., as I have signyfyed in my letter ye,2Ctth Decr & it is with ye greatest
conserne that I am obliged farther to acquainte your
Excellency that we have scarce thirty men in this fort that
are capabell of cutting or halling wood for the suply of
this fort, and it is with grate difficulty they can suply themselves with wood from day to day, the snow is so deep, it
is three foot at this place, and haveing no snow-shoes, and
our being in a manner naked, it is out of our power were
we in healthe, to keep scoutes abroad, or even to sende a
guarde with those men who halls wood, neither can they
carry their armes with them, being harde put to it to wallow through the snow with their sled loades of wood, and
it is harde service for those'men to suply themselves and
ye invallids with fireing which takes up the intier barricks.
We have now but four weeks' allowance of bread in this
fort, one barrell of rum, and one do. of molasses, and God
knows how or where we shall be able to gitt any suplyes
from Fort Western, on account of ye snow is so deep. I
left Fort Hallifax on ye 4th inst., to see if ye river was




180    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
passable on ye ice, with one soldier for company, and also
to try if I could collect some leather or shoes for a present
relief till more shall be sent which I have got, and I have
imployed two shoamakers to work it up. We came all the
way on ye ice, which we found to be very weak between
Fort Hallifax and Fort Western, on account of as I suppose of ye grate body of snow which lyes on it, which
hinders its freezing, ye ice there is sunk with snow and
water, about two foot and a halfe deep. Ye under ice was
so weake that we broke through sundrye times, and it was
with great difficulty and hazard of our lives that we got to
Fort Western, where we was detained by a storm two days.
Ye 8th inst., we arrived at Richmond fort, where I thought
it my duty to write yr Excellency this letter.
I think it was a very bad affair that ye barricks had not
been left in better order, and that there had not been more
suplyes laid up in this fort, whilst the river was open. If
it was bad carrying up ye stores then, I aver its ten times
worse now, and I fear will continue so this winter, for I
doubt ye river above Fort Western will be hard to freeze,
on account of ye strong currents that runs there, and as to
ye cut rodes being any service, it would take fifty men and
ten yoke of oxen two days to brake, and after it was
broaken, it would choake up with ye first wind that blew.
Some of ye gullyes now are drifted ten or fifteen foot deep
with snow, that I think it will never be of much service to
us for transporting our provisions, till such times as
ye country is settled, and more teems frequents that rode
than what may be allowed for Fort Hallifax; but these
dull complaintes avail us but little, to extracate us out of
our present difficulties, it remains now to think of the best
way by which that garrison can be relieved, and I would
with submission offer your Excellency my humble oppinion
upon the matter, which is, that your Excellency give the
independent companies or other forces that may be raised
as succers for the defence of the river, orders to provide or




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  181
impress oxen or other cattel with provinder, and slades or
carrs, and those cattel to be imployed in hailing the stores
and other suplyes that will soon be landed for this river
(for the suplye of Fort Hallifax) up to Fort Western, for
farther, I believe cattel will be of no service, on account of
ye river being dangerous for cattle to travel on, as I have
already observed, and that a proper number of good men
with snowshoes may be imp]oyed in carrying up provisions
from Fort Western to Fort Hallifax, and after ye road is
beten well, and ye invallids that may be able to travel after
being shod, for them to march down ye river and tarry
with ye provisions which will save a grate deal of fatigue
of carrying of ye provisions to them, and that there be
good men placed at Fort Hallifax in their rooms. I should
have now dismissed some worthless fellows, who dos littel
other duty than eates their allowence, could they have
travelled home, for they will never do any service here, or
any where else. This garrison I think has its full share of
such creatures, that resembels men in nothing but ye humain shape, but such will do for forts where they have
nothing to doe but eate and sleepe..
We want very much a sortment of herbs for ye sicke,
our doctor has left us, and we have no one here that knows
ye use of our medisons. A great many of our men has
been sick, and continues so, but none of them have yet
recovered to their former healthes, nor will do so, I believe,
this winter. The men in general seems very low in spirits,
which I impute to their wading so much in ye water in
ye summer and fall, which I believe has very much hurt
ye circulation of their blood and filled it full of gross
humers, and what has added to their misfortunes, is their
being much straightened for want of room, and bad lodgings. In ye spring of ye year must be sent to Fort
Western, ten lodes of English hay for the suplye of ye oxen
that must hall ye timber for ye buildings at Fort Hallifax,
otherwise we cannot go on with ye buildings there. I have




182    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
imployed three carpenters this winter to prepair timber
for the above buildings. I have agreed with two of them
at thirty pounds per month, old tenor, till ye last of March,
and after that, thirty shillings per day till ye last of tiay.
I would again recomend to your Excellency eight flat
bottomed boates, carrying two tons each, which I mentioned in my last letter, and that they be sent to Fort
Western as early as possible next spring, to carry up our
suplyes to Fort Hallifax, which I am fully satisfied must
be the way we must be suplyed at the fort. I add no
farther than that we will doe the best we can to subsist till
we have more help. With submission I beg leave to subscribe myselfe,
Your Excellency's most Dutiful Obedient Ser'vt,
WILLIAM LITHGOW.
[Page 364.]                   BOSTON, JAN. 18, 1755.
Governor Shirley answered Colonel Lithgow's letter,
saying that he was sorry to hear of the distress which
existed at Fort Halifax. Ten days ago a vessel was sent
with stores, and I have now sent a sloop with provisions
and clothing for the garrison. I have also ordered Major
Denny and General Watts at Arrowsick, to impress horses
and cattle and carriages, together with a guard of men, to
send up the stores at Fort Western. I have the utmost
confidence in your vigilance, prudence, and discretion, and
desire you always to impart your sentiments to me, with
the utmost freedom.
[Page 371.1                     FEBRUARY 21, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes that the stores arrived at Arrowsick and were gundalowed up the chops in Merrymeeting
Bay, and there Captains Dunning of Brunswick, and
Hunter of Topsham were applyed to, with detachments
from their independent companies, to assist in carrying the
hay, &c., up to Fort Western, and the supplyes to Fort




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  183
Iallifax, the men being much fatigued. I have not had
one day's peace of mind since I left your Excellency last
fall.  Captains Dunning and Hunter brought nineteen
men from their independent companies, and continued in
service twenty-one days, which were occupied in conveying.
After distributing ye above shoes, blankets, bedding,
stockings, &c., I could muster about forty effective men in
the fort, who assisted Captains Dunning and Hunter.
It is considered probable that a party of French and
Indians will attack the fort in the spring. The fort must
be more strongly fortified with cannon. It is placed under
a hill which rises nearly one hundred feet higher than the
ground where the fort stands. A wall must be erected
cannon-proof, and sixteen -feet high, and two hundred feet
long, so as to encompass half the fort that is exposed to
the hill, or to cover the barracks already built, as well as
those to be erected for the officers and stores, by another
timber wall at a proper distance, filled in with clay on all
parts of the building exposed to the hill, viz: about onehalf to protect against cannon, and ye houses to be fortified
up to the eaves, which are about eight feet high. I have
surveyed the grounds on the hill in view of a proper place
for a redoubt, as your Excellency desired, and find there is
such a place. The additional buildings to be erected must
be no less than two houses forty-four feet long, for officers
and stores, and three small blockhouses, to be erected in
the half-moons, or places of arms for the defence of the
picket work, as also for sentries to stand guard in, and all
these to be fortified as above, the expense of which, with
another redoubt, will be great. After it is done, it will be
as irregular ill formed assemblage of buildings as was ever
huddled together to be called a fort, and it will be hard to
defend these, on account of their irregularity, and the
large circumference of ye picket work. Colonel Lithgow
proposes to do one of three things: to alter the fort, to
make it square, a regular fortification, or finish it in the




184    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
form begun, or build it on the hill. It will require to complete the fort, four hundred and fifty tons of timber, forty
or fifty thousand shingles, and forty thousand brick, besides
stone. The work cannot be performed until spring, when
bricks can be made. There is no stone, except what must
be got on the opposite side of the river. The timber must
be cut, and hauled this winter with oxen, and hewn. Hay
nust be sent for the oxen. Captain Hunter was a good
carpenter, and understood log work, and he and such men
as could work with broad and narrow axes, were to be
retained. It was excessive hard service, hauling sleds of
hay and provisions from Merrymeeting Bay to Fort Halifax.
One thing I forgot to inform your Excellency, that I
have been obliged constantly to allow those men that hauled
firewood, stores, &c., to Fort Halifax, a certain quantity of
rumn, without which it woud have been impossible to have
done anything.
[Page 383.]           FORT WESTERN, MARCH 5, 1755.
James Howard writes the governor of an attack on the
fort by the French and Indians, and prays that some
cannon may be sent him. The number of men is small,
and the ground in the vicinity of the fort is advantageous
for a surprise. The supplies here, intended for Fort
Halifax, will induce the enemy to attack us. The enemy
may come and secrete themselves in one. of the gullies
within one hundred and fifty yards of the fort, and we
cannot annoy them. When they see us leave the fort, to
act as guard, convey the stores to Fort Halifax, they can
lie by and attack it. We have no colors for the fort.
[Page 384.]                 BOSTON, MARCH 8, 1755.
Governor Shirley answers Colonel Lithgow's letter, and
says the fort shall be completed next year, and accommodations provided for his family. Orders him to make the




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  185
fort, the inside works comfortable for the men, and to look
out for their healths. Informs him that the four flat
bottomed boats are almost ready, and will be sent immediately. Two more are ordered, and all are to be armed
with four swivels each.
[Page 394.]          FORT HALIFAX, MARCH 22, 1755.
Captain Lithgow writes that the barracks are so far done
as to accommodate the soldiery in their lodgings, and that
plank shutters have been made for the doors and windows.
That his family must be removed from Fort Richmond,
though there is no suitable place for their accommodation.
Asks what shall be done in relation to completing the fort,
"for as it now stands, it is one of the most extraordinary
"fortresses for ordinaryness, I have ever seen or heard of."
I am now cutting timber for strengthening the garrison.
One-half of the garrison was unable during the winter, to
go abroad, on account of the scurvey and other ails. I
have about two hundred tons of hewn timber now on the
eminence, hewn in such a manner as to be used in any way
your Excellency may be pleased to order it. I am determined to erect another redoubt on the eminence, cannon
proof, to be garrisoned with a sufficient number of men to
defend it against a considerable army with great artillery.
If the fort should be built on the hill, the redoubt can be
joined, and will make a good flanker. There must be a
redoubt erected to command the hill. I have also a hundred tons of boards, loggs, and bolts, to make shingles with,
most all hauled in on handsleds.
[Page 400.]                  BOSTON, APRIL 2, 1755.
Governor Shirley writes Ezekiel Cushing, sending him
a warrant to impress men for conveying the provisions,
ammunition, &c., up the river to Fort Halifax. Advises
him to consult with Colonel Lithgow as to the manner.
24




186    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
The hazard of sending goods is greater at this season of
the year than at any other.
[Page 404.]               NEWCASTLE, APRIL 9, 1755.
Alexander Nichols writes from New Castle, that in
accordance with Governor Shirley's order to Ezekiel Cushing, he raised seven men, and marched to Richmond, and
from thence via Fort Western to Fort Halifax. There was
no appearance of danger. I returned the fifth of this
month.
[Page 412.]           FORT HALIFAX, APRIL 19, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes that he has got sufficient timber
to build a redoubt thirty-four feet square, two stories high,
cannon proof, and will command the eminence. I have
determined to make the wall of said redoubt five feet thick,
of square timber locked together with ties; this will be at
less cost than a double wall filled in with earth, which
would rot the timber. I have also got timber to build a
square fort of eighty or ninety feet. With the help of the
small blockhouses General Winslow erected I propose
to join this fort to the large blockhouse that now contains
the cannon.
The pickets that now encompass these buildings are
upwards of eight hundred feet in length, a great many of
which will soon fall, not being scarcely set in the ground.
[Page 418.]                  GEORGES, MAY 9, 1755.
T. Fletcher writes from Georges, that on the 6th inst.,
the chiefs of the Penobscot tribe informed him that a body
of the Norridgewock and Assagunticook Indians are going
against the people of Kennebec, and that he has sent the
information to the fort there.




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  187
[Page 420.]             FORT HALIFAX, MAY 11, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes that he has begun a redoubt in a
suitable place, thirty-four feet square, the walls four feet
nine inches thick, two stories high, hip roof, with watch
boxes on the top, and to be surrounded at proper distances
with piquets. This will be cannon proof. The first story
is raised, the wall square timber tied with oak dovetails.
This redoubt will command the eminence, also the falls,
and all the clear land to the westward of the falls. It is
also erected on the high knoll eastward of the cut path
that ascends the eminence. Two pieces of good cannon
should be in the building to make it well fortified, as long
as the wall is thick. We can make the carriages here, to
suit the height of the embrasures. Desires a guard may
be sent to conduct the stores.
[Page 457.]             FORT HALIFAX, JUNE 8, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes Governor Shirley that one
hundred and fifty men, subsequently increased to two
hundred, with three flat-bottomed boats, three of those
built in Boston not answering the purpose, we got canoes
and whale boats at Falmouth, got the provisions and stores
up to Fort Halifax, enough to last until February, without
spilling a mouthful, or injuring the boats. In a week's
time the redoubt will be done, except flooring, and building
the chimney. It will be surrounded with open palisades,
at a proper distance, to prevent the enemy's firing it.
Cannot accommodate his family at Fort Halifax, unless
some of the soldiers lodge out of doors. I wish to be
dismissed rather than lead the miserable life I have for
six months past.
BOSTON, MAY 11, 1755.
Governor Shirley writes in answer to Colonel Lithgow's
letters, to go on with the redoubt, and as to the alterations




188    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
proposed in regard to Fort Halifax, the affair is one that
requires some consideration. I will send my orders as
soon as I advise with the general assembly.
[Page 452.]            FORT HALIFAX, JUNE 14, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes Governor Shirley that he sends
an invoice of sundry furs, also ~400 in gold. The men are
almost idle for want of work. Asks for instructions about
building the fort. Four or five of the men died last winter in consequence of poor accommodations, and most all
were sick.
[Page 469.]               BOSTON, IN HOUSE OF REP.,
JUNE 21, 1755.
Ordered, that the committee of war take under consideration the two plans of Fort Halifax, and report to his
Excellency, the Captain General, or Commander in Chief
for the time being, which they judge most advantageous to
the province, and also what alterations, if any, they think
proper to be made in either of said plans. Concurred,
June 24, 1755. May it please your Excellency, the committee to whom was referred the two plans above mentioned,
having perused the same, beg leave humbly to report to
your Excellency that we are of opinion that the plan drawn
by Captain Lithgow touching the alterations of Fort
Halifax, if pursued, will be most advantageous to the
Province, and that we cannot find any alterations to make
thereon, which is humbly submitted to your Excellency.
T. Osborne, by order. The copy sent by Captain Lithgow
attested by secretary. The Governor's letter sent, but no
copy taken by the secretary. One taken by the commissary. Lithgow's plan also sent him.*
* A thorough search in the secretary's office failed to discover
Lithgow's plan. It was probably retained by him.-J. W.




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HIALIZFAX.       189
[Page 471.]
N
W ^E
G           <>           <         //             *    __
F   D       B    1B       D   F                    J    I
H           LH
cae, 00 fet o an                h.
Scale, 100 feet to an inoh.
A. The lower story of the blockhouse, 20 foot,
B. The upper story of ditto, 27 foot.
C. The barracks, 20 foot square.
D. The proposed line of 120 foot square.
E. The flag staff.
F. The stands of arms.
G. The gate.
H. The close pickets.
J.  Blockhouse on the hill.
K. Gate.
L. Sebasticook.
N. B. The officers' apartments, guard-house and armorer's shop,
proposed to be built within the pickets, not yet erected, though




190     MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
timber and brick sufficient provided for that purpose, and also orders given for sinking a well before we left the Fort, and kentlings
provided to secure it.
BOSTON, NEW ENGLAND, OCT. 4, 1754.
To Ihis Excellency William Shirley, Esq., Captain General and
CoGnmander in Chief in and over His Majesty's Province
of' t-assachusetts Bay, &c.:
This Plan of Fort Halifax at Teconnet Falls on Kennebec River, with a redoubt standing east sixteen and one
half degrees north, sixty-one rods and a half, on an emi:
nence, is dedicated by your Excellency's most obliged,
most dutiful and humble servant,
JOHN WINSLOW.*
[Page 501.]                      BOSTON, JULY 15, 1755.
Governor Shirley writes Lithgow to reduce his force to
eighty men, no provision having been made for a larger
number.
* The New York Daily Times of Nov. 6, 1852, contains a letter
from Marshfield, Mass., which gives an account of the Webster
house and grounds. This.letter states that "Beneath a rugged elm
"which stands at the east of the building lies a weather-worn block
"of stone, bearing an inscription which, after a long and careful
" scrutiny aided by one who noticed it some years ago, I made out
"as follows:
"' Aug. the 25, 1754.
"' This foundation laid by
"'Major General - Winslow.'
"The Christian name I could not decipher." The farm of Mr.
Webster originally belonged to the Winslow family, and it is probable that this stone is the corner stone of one of the blockhouses of
Fort Halifax, which Mr. T. O. Paine (Waterville Mail, Nov. 25, 1852)
says was removed to Plymouth, Mass., by one of Gen. Winslow's
descendants. The corner stone of the fort, with a Latin inscription, is preserved in the state house at Augusta.-J. W.




IMATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF TORT AILIFAX,  191
EXTRACTS FROM VOLUME MARKED "LETTERS, VOL. V."
[Page 11.]                 BOSTON, AUGUST 16, 1755.
Governor Shirley writes Colonel Lithgow, and encloses
an order in accordance with the vote of the General Court
for a guard to conduct the provisions and supplies to Fort
Halifax, and thirty men are to be detached for guarding
your workmen in finishing and strengthening the fort.
You must improve the opportunity of the guard to have
the works well strengthened and finished.
[Page 32.]              FORT HALIFAX, OCT. 17, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes from Richmond. Sends a barrel
of potatoes. I have had a most troublesome time for the
twelve months past, and all the hardships and fatigues I
have endured during the twenty years spent in the service
of the country would not amount to so much. We are
going, as soon as the water is sufficiently high, to Fort
Western to bring up our stores to Fort Halifax, which fort
will be almost finished this fall.
[Page 36.]              FORT HALIFAX, OCT. 18, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes Governor Shirley, acknowledging
his thanks for the great care shown us in furnishing a guard
to transport the public stores to Fort Halifax, as the
garrison posted there is in the most dangerous situation of
any in the eastern frontiers. I have sent your orders to
the commander of said guard, commanding them to be at
Fort Western on the 23d inst., if the river is then raised
sufficiently for the boats.
I enclose an estimate of work desired of the carpenter
of ye making clapboards and laying them so as to render
secure the buildings of Fort Halifax. If the work is not
done, the stores will be exposed to ye weather, as also
ye buildings themselves, and will render the officers and
soldiers' quarters uncomfortable.




192    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
Memorandum for clapboarding the garrison at Ft. Halifax.
To 10 thousand clapboards, to be large,
6 inches wide, at 2s,                  ~220  0 0
To laying 10 thousand clapboards at 15s,  150 0 0
To making 46 window caps, and casing the
same so as to receive the ends of the
clapboards,
To casing 32 ports and lookouts, and 10
doors, and making all weather boards,
corner boards and water tables, and
casing 160 feet q. at jet,               180  0 0
~550 0 0
OCT. YE 17, 1755.           AARON WILLARD.
[Page 41.]             FORT HALIFAX, OCT., 20, 1755.
Colonel Lithgow writes Governor Shirley, in behalf of
the soldiery, that they may be discharged this fall, as many
of them have been in service for eighteen months. Prays
thirty recruits may be sent, and perhaps some of those now
here may be induced to stay. The reason why the men are
so uneasy, is because their duty here is much harder than
at any other fort. At Fort Georges, there is but one fort
to guard, while here there is eighty men and four posts to
defend, ye main fort, store house, and two redoubts. At
other forts, and at Fort Georges, they mount guard only
once in five nights, so that it is plain twenty men are as
sufficient for Fort Georges, or any other near the sea, as
eighty are for Fort Halifax, which is situated nearly fifty
miles from inhabitants and sixty-five miles from yel sea,
while other forts are surrounded by inhabitants, which
makes it more agreeable to ye soldiery.
[Page 108.]                         DEC. 2, 175(4)?
John Hamilton writes from Chegnecte to Doctor Sylvester Gardiner, that De Loutre expects war in the spring or




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FOR'T HALIFAX.  193
summer, that the French are vexed at the fort on Kennebec
tIiver, and a visit from them may be expected that way.
One of them told me it was only thirty-seven or forty
leagues from  Quebec. They report that a Canadian
mulatto namled Prient, showed Governor Shirley the way
to the Chaudi'.;re, and they were searching for him, and
would put him to death when found.
[Page 132.                               No NDATE.
Captain Lithgow -writes Governor Shirley, and informs
him that Captain David Dunning of Brunswick, and Adam
Hunter of Topsham, rendered services in January, 1755, in
relieving Fort Halifax, when in a distressed condition, as
many of the soldiers were then sick, having no beds,
blankets, shoes, hose, and scarce bodily clothing to wear,
and but little provision in the fort, and the two captains,
being joyned with a few soldiers at Richmond, in ye space
of three weeks, hauled by handsled on the ice from Arrowsic to Fort Western, beds, blankets, shoes, &c., and about
two hundred barrels of provisions from Fort Western to
Fort Halifax, and in consideration of their services, are
recommended to the consideration of the government.
EXTRACTS FROM, VOLUME MARKED  LETTERS, VOL. VI."
[Page 32.]            FORT HALIFAX, MARCH 15, 1757.
Colonel Lithlgow writes Governor Shirley, that as the
spring is at hand when it has been usual to supply Fort
Halifax with twelve months provisions, and I apprehend
an attack from the French or Indian enemy, which is more
probable than at any other season of the year, as the rivers
and ponds are clear from ice, and consequently an easy
transportation for them in ye birch canoes, and also good
25




4  MATERIALS 1ORE A H1STO1tY OF FORT' HALrFAX'.
hunting for beaver.  Prays a guard may be sent tco
Cushenoc.
[Page 104.]            FORT HALIFAX, MAY 23, 1757.
Lithgow writes Governor Shirley that some hunters
heard a great yelling of Indians five miles above this fort,
and supposed the number to be considerable, by the noise
they made. Said hunters left five of their number in the
woods, who are supposed to have fallen into the hands of
the Indians, as they have not returned. Rafts were discovered drifting by the fort down the river, which I suppose
the Indians used to ferry themselves across, and imagine
they have gone down the river among the inhabitants to do
mischief. I have duly warned the settlements there of the
approach, and the boat in which I sent the intelligence
was attacked in its return by seventeen Indians, ten miles
below the fort. Said boat contained an ensign and nine
men. The Indians first fired within twenty yards of the
boat, and wounded two men, not mortally, only flesh
wounds, one in ye side and one in the head. The officer
and crew behaved very gallantly, and immediately returned
the fire upon the enemy, who were all in full view. They
killed one Indian, who fell on the bank, and lay in full view
during the action, which continued very furious on the
boat, until she retreated to the other side of the river, in
which time several men discharged their guns three times.
After our men crossed the river, one hundred yards or less
wide, they sheltered themselves behind trees, and so continued till the Indians retreated over a piece of cleared
ground, carrying the dead Indian, and one who appeared
to be wounded.
[Page 293.]            FORT HALIFAX, FEB. 16, 1758.
Lithgow writes Governor Shirley, requesting a guard
may be sent for conducting the stores to the fort, about the
time the river opens, about April 1.




XATERDLS FOR A HISTORY OF TORT HALIFAX.   195
EXTRACTS FROM VOLUME VIII., MILITARY.
1754, April 2. [Page 174.] In House of Representatives, ordered, that the Captain General be desired to send
Mr. James Bean, of York, with two others, to discover
whether the French are erecting a fort or garrison at the
great carrying-place on the Kennebec River.
1754, April. [Page 177.] Whereas the fort at Richmond
is in a very ruinous condition, and past repairs, and a more
suitable place may be found farther up Kennebec River,
whereon to erect a new one, and inasmuch as it is the
earnest desire of both houses that his Excellency would
take the trouble of a journey to the eastern parts of the
province, to give directions concerning this fort, as well as
other important matters. Ordered, that five hundred men,
including officers, be enlisted to attend his Excellency's
commands eastward.
1754, April 17. [Page 180.] At a meeting of the proprietors of the Kennebec purchase, from the late colony of
New Plymouth, held by adjournment, Voted: Whereas the
great and general assembly of the province of Massachusetts Bay have in their present session by their Majesty to
his Excellency, William Shirley, Esq., governor of said
province, desired himn to order a new fort to be erected of
about one hundred and twenty feet square, above Richmond
fort on the Kennebec River, as far up as he shall think fit;
and his said Excellency has signified to the proprietors,
that in case we will, at our own expense, cause to be built
at or near a place called Cushenoc upon said river, as he
shall order, a house of hewn timber, not less than ten inches
thick, one hundred feet long, thirty feet wide, and sixteen
feet high, for the reception of said province stores, with
conveniences for lodging the soldiers who may be placed
there by the Government, and will picquet in the same, at
thirty feet distance from every part of said house, and will




196    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
build a blockhouse twenty-four feet square at two of the
oplposite angles, and a sentry box at each of the other two
angles, of twvvelve feet square, agreeably to a plan exhibited
to us by the governor for that purpose, and furnish the
same with four cannon, carrying ball of four pounds, his
said Excellency having undertaken to protect the workmen
who shall be employed in building said house, until the
same shall be finished, he, the said governor, will give
orders, as soon as may be, for the erecting of a new fort
at the charge of the government, of the dimensions proposed by the General Assembly in their aforesaid message
to him, above Taconnet Falls on the aforesaid river, for the
protection of the settlements made, or which may be
hereafter made upon the same, and in the adjacent country,
and use his best efforts to cause the fort to be finished
with the utmost expedition.
Now it is unanimously voted, that in consideration of
the aforesaid assurance given to this proprietee by his said
Excellency, we, the said proprietee, will cause a house to
be built as above, and the committee, viz:   Thomas
Hancock, Esq., Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, Mr. William Bowdoin, and Mr. Benjamin Hallowell, are hereby desired to
take care that the afore-mentioned house be built and
piquetted in, and the blockhouses and sentry boxes built
agreeable to the above, at the charge of this proprietee.
A true copy.
[Signed] DAVID JEFFRIES, Prop. Clerk.
1754, April 18. [Page 192.] The House of Representatives voted that Is 6d be allowed for each man enlisted
for the eastward.
1754, July 6. [Page 214.1 An agreement by and between
Governor Shirley and Isaac Islsly of Falmouth, carpenter,
that said Islsly and twelve other persons, all carpenters,
should proceede on the 9th inst., to Kennebec River, in a
schooner or other vessel to be hired by the government,




MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.  197
and there continue for the space of two months to help
build a fort designed to be erected at or near Taconnic
Falls, or such place on or near said river as shall be judged
most convenient by Major General Winslow; to be found
food and drink, and conveyed back to Falmouth, their pay
to commence the 8th of July, for himself and five apprentices nine pounds old tenor per day, and John Tomes at
45s per day. 28 Dec., 1754, is Islsly's receipt, ~1,660 10s.
1754, \Nov. 12. [Page 266.] Thirty men ordered to be
enlisted or impressed in order to reinforce the garrison at
Fort Halifax.
1754, Nov. 12. [Page 276.] In April and May ~7,414
raised for the expedition to Kennebec was found insufficient,
and it was ordered that ~6,000 more be raised, and that
the men engaged in said expedition be paid.
1754, Dec. 4. [Page 284.]  General John Winslow's
petition, representing that the men under his command in
the late expedition to Kennebec wore out their knapsacks,
blankets, and bonditures by transporting provisions in
them, lying on the ground, &c., and the General Court
ordered the commissary to replace them free of expense.
1754, Dec. 20. [Page 289.]  Twenty cohorn mortars
ordered to Fort Halifax.
FROM VOLUME XII., MILITARY.
1759, June 19. [Page 560.] Petition of William Martin and eleven others, soldiers at Fort Halifax, praying for
a dismission. Represents that they were pressed into the
service by Colonel Lithgow. That a vote was passed by
the General Court giving a bounty of three dollars for
one year, and five dollars for two years to any person
who would enlist, and that but four men could be found
to supply the place of the seventeen whose time had ex



198    MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF FORT HALIFAX.
pired. Some of us have been here four, some three, and
some two years.
1759, Sept. 26. [Page 576.] Colonel Lithgow acquaints
the governor that the four province boats for transporting
stores from Cushenoc to Fort Halifax are so decayed that
they will not be serviceable another summer.
1759, Nov. 7. [Page 640.] Voted pay and subsistence
for two sergeants, two corporals, one armorer, one drummer, and twenty-three privates at Fort Halifax, and for
one lieutenant and nine privates at Cushenoc.
Voted that the Captain General give orders for discharging the sixteen men who have requested it, and that five
dollars be given to three men each who shall enlist into the
service. If they cannot be enlisted, to be impressed.
Colonel Lithgow is instructed to make discovery of
military parties of the enemy as might attempt the.
destruction of the settlements. A suitable number of
soldiers from Fort Halifax, with an officer to head them, be
employed as scouts, and that such scouts be employed in
scouting between Fort Halifax and Fort Pownal,* also if
possible to find the connection between the Cobbaseconte
ponds and the river which empties itself into the KEennebec,
and that a plan of said river be made.
* There is a communication between Penobscot and Kennebec
rivers with short portages from Fort Pownall and Fort Halifax, by
a succession of ponds, and by Sebasticook River.-[Pownall's
Topographical Description of British Provinces, p. 24.




ARTICLE X.
THE PROPOSED PROVINCE OF
NEW   IRELAND.
SY JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST.








NEW       IRELAND.
AT a recent meeting of the Society I communicated an
extract from one of Knox's Extra Official State Papers
relative to the proposed establishment, during the Revolution, of a new British Province in the eastern portion of
our territory, to be colonized by American loyalists, and to
be called New Ireland. The project originated in the year
1780. It was approved by the ministry, and sanctioned
by the King. Bagaduce, now Castine, was to be the seat
of the new government, and the plan was so far matured
that the names of the principal officers were suggested.
The position of governor was to be bestowed upon Thomas
Oliver, a graduate of Harvard College in the year 1753, a
man of wealth and of learning, and who had been a
lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts. Daniel Leonard, a
prominent loyalist, and afterwards Chief Justice of Bermuda, was named as Chief Justice. The project would
undoubtedly have been carried into effect, but for the
adverse views of the attorney-general of England, 3Mr.
Wedderburn, afterwards Lord Loughborough, who entertained scruples about violating the sacredness of the
charter rights of the province of the Massachusetts Bay,
and argued that those rights extended the limits of the
province to the River St. Croix, and that the eastern
boundaries were not terminated at the Penobscot, as claimed
by the ministry. It was the territory between the Penob26




202     THE PROPOSED PROVINCE OF NEW IRELAND.
scot and St. Croix whiich was to compose New Ireland.
His opinion prevailed, but the plan of the new colony was
not (abandoned until the termination of the war. The
op0hinon of the attorney general has never been published
in this country,' if in Engcland. Measures for obtaining a
copy from the State Paper Office in London have been
undertaken, and it is hoped that the society may soon be
pllaced in possession of so valuable a document.
Although the prospective erection of the new colony was
a matter of great interest and importance at the time it
was conceived, no mention of the fact is to be found in any
American history. All the information which can be found
is derived from a few English authorities. It may not be
uninteresting to briefly refer to such authorities, as illustrating some of the reasons which suggested the idea of
the new province, and as showing the exertions which
were made to carry the idea into effect.
After the treaty of 1763, twelve townships were granted
by Mfassachusetts on the eastern side of the Penobscot,
and on the coast between that river and the St. Croix, but
the undefined limits of the province of the Massachusetts
Bay, springing from the unestablished bounds of Acadie,
rendered the title to those grants doubtful, and the inhabitants in vain petitioned for a recognition or confirmation
of their claims from  the crown.  The jurisdiction of
Massachusetts east of the Penobscot was not acknowledged
by the British government until peace was declared, and
the renunciation of that territory was reluctantly inserted
in the treaty of 1783. The owners and inhabitants of the
townships extending along the coast from Bucksport to
Addison sent an agent to Great Britain to procure an
establishment of their rights. Dr. Franklin, at one time,
while the agent of Massachusetts, represented them, and
his correspondence concerning his efforts in their behalf is
still extant. In June, 1779, a British force took possession
of Bagaduce, which they fortified and improved to an




THE PROPOSED PROVINCE OP NEW IRELAND.    203
extent which indicated that their occupation of that part
was designed to be permanent. The inhabitants of the
eastern plantations generally remained loyal, and therefore
were protected in their rights. They were assured that in
reward for adhering to the crown their titles would be
confirmed. After the failure of the American expedition
sent to dislodge the enemy from Bagaduce, loyalists assembled there in great numbers, and it was soon after, probably
in the year 1780, that the plan of rendering the district a
fixed asylum for the proscribed citizens of the United States
was projected. "Many of the refugees within the lines,"
wrote Lord George Germaine, the British Secretary of
State, to Sir Henry Clinton, under date of February 7,
1781, in a despatch which was intercepted by the capture
of a packet ship, and transmitted to Congress, "Many of
"the refugees, who are unfit for military service, are
"desirous of being settled in the country about Penobscot,
" and require only to be supplied with provisions for the
"first year, some tools for husbandry, and iron work for
"their buildings; and as it is proposed to settle that
<country, and this appears a cheap method of disposing
"of these loyalists, it is wished you would encourage them
"to go there under the protection of the associated refugees,
"and assure them that a civil government will follow them
"' in due time." A pamphlet published in London, in 1781,
entitled "The seige of Penobscot," the supposed author
of which was Doctor John Calf, a refugee from Ipswich,
Massachusetts, contains in what is denominated "a post"script, wherein a short account of the country of Penobscot
"is given," the following information concerning the
proposed new colony. "Penobscot, sometimes called the
"territory of Sagadahock, lies in the eastern part of the
"province of Massachusetts Bay, having the province of
"Nova Scotia, (viz. Passamaquodie,) for its eastern; the
"province of Maine, (viz. Kennebec River,) its western;
"Canada, its northern, and the ocean its southern bound



204     THE PROPOSED PROVINCE OF NEW IRELAND.
"ary, and is nearly as large as the Kingdom       of
"Ireland."..
"At the end of the last war, viz. in 1763, the General
"Assembly of Massachusetts Bay granted thirteen town"ships, each six miles square, lying on the east side of
"Penobscot river, to thirteen companies of proprietors who
"proceeded to lay out the said townships, and returned
"plans thereof to the General Assembly, which were
"approved and accepted. In consequence of this measure
"about sixty families settled on each township and made
"great improvements of the land. These settlers employed
"the then agent for said province at the Court of Great
"Britain, to solicit the royal approbation of those grants,
"and in the year 1773, as also in the last year, (1780,) they
"sent an agent expressly on their own account for the
"same purpose, and further to pray that his Majesty would
"be graciously pleased to sever that district from the
"province of Massachusetts Bay, and erect it into a
"government under the authority of the crown, which
"solicitation has hitherto, however, been without effect.
"The inhabitants of this country are in general loyal,
"except those of the township of Machias, who have at
"that place a small fort under the direction of Congress,
" and about one hundred and thirty-five Indian warriors of
"the Machias tribe in their interest; all the other tribes of
"northern Indians are in the King's peace.
"The soil of this country is good, and well adapted to
"the cultivation of every sort of English grain, as well as
"hemp, flax, &c., but it is more especially proper for
"grazing, (in which it excels every port of America,) and
"for breeding cattle, sheep, swine and horses. Its woods
"abound with moose and other kinds of deer; beaver, and
"several kinds of game good for food. A few miles from
"the sea coast are large tracts of land covered with pine
"trees suitable for masts of the largest size, for which




THE PROPOSED PROVINCE OF NEW IRELAND.   205
"article Britain has been obliged to northern powers,
"Russia, in particular..
"To this new country the loyalists resort with their
"families (last summer, particularly, a great number of
"families were preparing to remove thither) from the other
"New England provinces, and find an asylum from the
"tyranny of Congress and their tax-gatherers, as well as
"daily employment in fishing, lumbering, clearing, and
"preparing land for their subsistence, and there they con" tinue in full hope and pleasing expectation, that they may
"soon re-enjoy the liberties and privileges which would be
"best secured to them by laws, and under a form of
"government modelled after the British Constitution; and
"that they may be covered in their possession, agreeably
"to the petition to the throne in 1773, which was renewed
"last year.
"Should this district be severed from the province of
"Massachusetts Bay, and erected into a province under the
"authority of the crown, and the inhabitants quieted in
"their possessions, it would be settled with amazing
"rapidity, and the Royal Navy, West India Islands and
"other parts of his Majesty's dominions well and plenti"fully served for centuries to come from this district with
"the articles above mentioned, without being obliged to
"other powers for the same, and the profits of the whole
"would fall into the lap of Great Britain, in return for her
"manufactures."
Some of the catalogues of books relating to America
refer to a pamphlet which would be extremely interesting
in throwing more light on this matter. The pamphlet
contains about seventy pages, and is entitled "Consider"ations on the Sovereignty, Independence, Trade and
"Fisheries of New Ireland." The author is supposed to
have been a Colonel McNutt, "who was in Salem  just
"before the Revolution." It has been found impossible to




i:2)6i   TEHEE PROPOSED PI'OVINCE OF NEW IRELAND.
t)p''Iure this pamplhlet, but it is hoped that the mention of
its existence may be the means of securing a copy for
the Society, as well as of inducing more research and
inquiry concerning the project of New Ireland on the
part of persons whose opportunities for investigating the
matter are not so restricted as those of the writer of this
article.




AIATICLE XI.
SLAVERY       IN   MAINE.
BY JOSE PHI WILLTAMSON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST.








SLAVERY IN MAINE.
IN the momentous crisis through which our country is
now passing,* when a severe if not an annihilating blow is
being aimed at an institution coeval with our earliest
settlement, and which once obtained throughout our whole
territory, it may be not inappropriate or uninteresting to
review briefly the existence, progress and extinction of that
institution in our own State.
To England, more than to any other nation, belongs the
unenviable celebrity of establishing modern slave trade.
Introduced by Sir John Hawkins in 1562, and immediately
receiving the sanction and protection of Queen Elizabeth,
it soon became one of the most lucrative sources of national
wealth. For nearly two centuries the highest officials in
both church and state did not hesitate to lend to it their
approval, and even to participate in its profits. The first
adventurers to our coast were not exempt from this depraved
condition of public sentiment, and George Weymouth,
although he failed to designate satisfactorily which river in
Maine he explored in 1605, yet by the forcible abduction of
five natives of our shores, he has left conclusive evidence that
man stealing was not regarded criminal by his companions
or by himself. And although two of the unfortunate
* This paper was presented at the winter session, Augusta, January, 1864.
27




210              SLAVERY IN MAINE.
captives were subsequently restored to their homes by Sir
Ferdinando Gorges, it does not appear that they were
returned by virtue of any writ of habeas corpus, or under
any extradition act. Captain Harlowe, master of ordnance
in the Popham expedition in 1611, in the course of a
voyage to Monhegan, kidnapped several Indians, whom he
carried to England. Captain John Smith, however, who
visited America three years afterwards, seems to have
entertained more humane sentiments than his predecessors,
for he condemns the unauthorized conduct of Thomas
Hunt, his ship master, who in the absence of the "Admirall,
"betrayed foure and twenty of these poore Salvages
"aboored his ship, and most dishonestly and inhumanly
"for their kind vsage of me and all our men, carried them
"with him to Maligo, and there for a little private gaine
"sold those silly Salvages for rials of eight; but this ville
"act kept him ever after from any more imploiment to
"those partes." These three instances are believed to
have been the only acts of man stealing in New England
until permanent settlements were made.
There is no direct evidence that slavery was at first
permitted in the Plymouth Colony, but it was early and
distinctly recognized by the colonists of the Massachusetts
Bay, and for nearly a century and a half slaves were
openly imported, owned, and sold there. In 1639 the
Salem ship Desire brought to Boston a cargo of cotton,
tobacco, and negroes from Tortugas, and two years after
Samuel Maverick, "than whom" the learned editor of
Winthrop's Journal says "no man seems better entitled by
"his deeds to the character of a Christian," held and
desired to breed slaves on Noddle's Island, now East
Boston. By an ordinance of 1641, it was ordered that
"there be no bond slavery, villenage or captivity amongst
"us, with the exception of lawful captives taken in just
"wars, or those judicially sentenced to servitude as a
"punishment."  The pious Governor Winthrop, by his will




SLAVERY IN MAINE.             211
dated April 25th of that year, enumerates among bequests
to his son all his Indians on his island called Governor's
Island. In 1646, " the General Court, conceiving themselves
"bound to bear witness against the heinous and crying sin
"of man stealing," ordered that certain negroes, imported
by Captain Smith be sent back to their native country,
(Guinea,) at the charge of the colony, with a letter from
the Governor expressive of the indignation of the court
thereabouts. "But notwithstanding these strong expres"sions in the acts of the Colonial government," remarks
Chief Justice Shaw, "slavery to a certain extent seems to
"have crept in; not probably by force of any law, for none
"such is found or known to exist; but rather, it may be
"presumed, from that universal custom, prevailing through
"the European colonies, in the West Indies, and on the
"continent of America, and which was fostered and
"encouraged by the commercial policy of the parent states."
So far as our own State is concerned, no laws or ordinances
relating to slavery are to be found among the records of
the province while governed by the Gorges charter, and no
further enactment appears on the Massachusetts Statute
Book until 1705. Before that year, in 1677, by the purchase of Maine by Massachusetts, our people became a
part of that Colony, and in 1691, by the charter of William
and Mary, a complete consolidation was effected. From
1677, therefore, down to the separation, our laws, legal
usages and measures of government were those also of
Massachusetts. It may be reasonably inferred that slavery
was introduced with those legal usages, if it had obtained
no foothold before. The enactment by Massachusetts in
1705, to which allusion was made, distinctly countenanced the institution, regardless of a vote passed by the
inhabitants of Boston four years before, desiring their
representatives "to promote means for putting a period to
"negroes being slaves," and levied a duty of ~4 upon each
negro imported, with a drawback upon any one for whom




212               SLAVERY IN MAINE.
the duty had been paid, if such negro was exported within
the space of twelve months, and sold bonafide in any other
plantation.
The treaty of Utrecht was made in 1713. By its
provisions England formally sanctioned the slave trade in
reserving to herself the exclusive right of importing negroes
into Spanish America, and became the largest trafficer in
human flesh in the world. How well her monopoly was
rendered available, may be learned from the estimate made
by Bancroft that "English ships, fitted out in English
"cities, under the special favor of the royal family, of the
"ministry, and of parliament, stole from Africa, in the
"years from 1700 to 1750, probably a million and a half of
"human beings, of whom one-eighth were buried in the
"Atlantic, victims of the passage." "The slave trade," he
continues, "possessed  paramount attractions.  Not a
"statesman exposed its enormities; and, if Richard Baxter
"echoed the opinions of Puritan Massachusetts, if Southern
"drew tears by the tragic tale of Oronooko, if Steele
"awakened a throb of indignation by the story of Inkle and
"Yarico, if Savage and Shenstone pointed their feeble
"couplets with the wrongs of Afric's sable children, yet
"no public opinion lifted its voice against it."  For fifty
years after, the traffic in slaves appears to have been an
extensive and lucrative one in Boston. At first, dealers had
no hesitation in advertising them for sale in their own
names, but at length the advertisers would simply refer
purchasers "to the printer for further particulars." Advertisements of lost and runaway slaves are common in all
the Boston newspapers, from 1727 to 1781. The following
is a specimen of one of the earliest of these advertisements,
contained in the Boston News Letter of April 1, 1728;
"Mr. Henry Richards wants to sell a parcel of likely
"negro boys and one girl, brought from Guinea." And
again, "Two very likely negro girls for sale, also woman's
" stays, children's good callamanco stiffned boddy'd coats,




SLAVERY IN MAINE.             213
" and children's stays of all sorts, and woman's hoop-coats,
"all at reasonable rates."  The last advertisements of
slaves which appeared in Boston newspapers are published
in the Boston Gazette of December 10, 1781. "To be
"sold, very reasonably, a likely negro woman, about
"thirty-three or thirty-four years of age." "To be sold, or
"hired for a number of years, a strong, healthy, honest
"negro girl, about sixteen years of age." Dr. Belknap,
writing in 1795 to Judge Tucker, in answer to his inquiries
about slavery, says: "I cannot find that more than three
"ships in a year belonging to Boston, were ever employed
"in the African trade. The rum distilled here was the
"mainspring of the traffic. Very few whole cargoes ever
"came to this port. One gentleman says he remembers
"two or three." Dr. Belknap mentions one cargo which
he recollected of arriving between 1755 and 1765, consisting almost wholly of children.
During this period, Boston, as at the present time, was
the metropolis and commercial centre of New England.
To a certain extent her customs and usages were followed
by the smaller towns. How far they had penetrated the
wilds of Maine, or in what degree the institution of slavery
had become engrafted upon our scattered settlements, little
exists to show. The firm of William Pepperrells held
slaves at Kittery Point, for many years. " On one occasion,"
to quote from the life of Sir William Pepperrell, "Benjamin
" Bullard, a merchant of Antigua, shipped to Kittery Point
"five negroes, consigned to the firm of Pepperrells. He
"received the following answer, dated June 25, 1719:
"Sir:-I received yours by Captain Morris, with bills of
"lading for five negroes, and one hogshead of rum. One
"negro woman, marked Y. on the left breast, died in about
"three weeks after her arrival, in spite of medical aid
"which I procured. All the rest died at sea. I am sorry
"for your loss.  It may have resulted from deficient
"clothing so early in the spring." "But with all their




214              SLAVERY IN MAINE.
"vastly extended and diversified commerce and navigation,"
says the biographer, "it should be mentioned to the credit
"of the Pepperrell firm, that they never imported slaves
"from Africa. Like all persons of their day who possessed
"the means, they owned a few slaves, probably ten or a
"dozen, whom they purchased in the vicinity." In the
baronial style in which Sir William lived after the conquest of Louisburgh, he maintained "a splendid barge,
"with a black crew dressed in uniform." By his will, dated
in January, 1759, six months before his death, among other
bequests to Lady Pepperrell, are included four negroes.
In so important a town as Falmouth, slavery of course
obtained an early foothold. Mr. Willis estimates the
number of inhabitants of the several districts of that town
in 1749, embracing Cape Elizabeth, New Casco, Stroudwater, Back Cove and Neck, now Portland, at 2,367, of
whom twenty-one were slaves, principally owned on the
Neck. Rev. Thomas Smith's Journal records under date
of July 30, 1760, "Colonel Cushing has lost his sloop and
"negroes; taken by French ships." In the midst of a
system in favor of which Whitefield did not hesitate to
plead, and which the pious Moravians thought advantageous, "if the slaves were treated in a Christian spirit,"
Mr. Smith had no conscientious scruples about holding in
bondage his fellow men, as appears from a note in
connection with an entry in his journal under date of
February 10, 1776. By a statement written by him, he
appears to have offered ~700, old tenor, for "a negro man
"and a likely young negro woman."
In 1764, according to a memorandum in the handwriting
of Judge Sewall, the town of York contained 2,242 white
inhabitants, and fifty-six negroes, seventeen of whom were
under the age of sixteen. York, Kittery, Wells, Arundel
and Pepperrellboro', (now Saco,) had an aggregate population of 9,986, of whom two hundred and three were blacks.
Falmouth contained 3,770 whites and forty-four negroes,




SLAVERY IN MAINE.              215
and Pownalboro' had nine negroes out of eight hundred
and eighty-nine inhabitants. The whole population of
Maine, in 1764, was 23,686 white persons, and three
hundred and thirty-two blacks. How many of the latter
were slaves cannot be ascertained. Rev. Jacob Bailey
mentions a slave held in Pownalboro', by Major Samuel
Goodwin, in 1774. Further east than Pownalboro' the
existence of the institution cannot be traced. Slaves were
not usually found away from maritime towns, as farmers
preferred white laborers to black.
The inquiry naturally suggests itself, what was the
condition of slaves in Maine and in Massachusetts, and
how did the system become extinct. At first their treatment was harsh, but during the last years the institution
existed, they suffered no greater hardships than hired
servants. They were admitted as church members. They
could hold property, both real and personal. They testified
in courts of justice. Their family relations were seldom
disturbed, although one advertisement in a Boston newspaper offers for sale, together or separately, a slave mother
and her child six months old, and although small negro
children when weaned, were sometimes given away like
puppies, as an incumbrance. "The slave was the absolute
"property of his master," says Chief Justice Parsons,
"subject to his orders, and to reasonable correction for
"misbehavior, was transferrable like a chattel by gift or
"sale, and was assets in the hands of his executor or
"administrator. If the master was guilty of a cruel or
"unreasonable castigation of his slave, he was liable to be
"punished for the breach of the peace, and the slave was
"allowed to demand sureties of the peace against a violent
"and barbarous master, which generally caused a sale to
"another master. And the children of the female slave,
" according to the maxim of the civil law, were the property
of her master."
The first decisive movement for the abolition of slavery




216               SLAVERY IN MAINE.
in Massachusetts was made in 1773. In that year the
negroes, emboldened by the glimmerings of independence,
presented a petition for their freedom to the General Court.
It was referred, and the next year a bill was passed to
prevent the importation of slaves. Governor Hutchinson
declined giving to it his signature, for the reason that he
had no authority to sanction such a measure. To the last,
Great Britain continued to resist every colonial limitation
of the slave trade, with the same firmness with which she
opposed our efforts at independence. "We cannot allow,"
wrote the Earl of Dartmouth to an agent in America, in
1776, "we cannot allow the colonists to check or discourage
"a traffic so beneficial to the nation."  The passage of the
bill in 1774, was an express declaration of public opinion,
and prepared the way six years afterwards for inserting in
the constitution of the Commonwealth, that important
provision that all men were born free and equal. In the
first case involving the right of the master to his slave,
which was adjudicated by the Supreme Court of the new
Commonwealth, the judges decided that by virtue of the
clause referred to, the slave no longer owed any service,
and slavery from that time henceforth, and it is to be hoped
forever ceased to have a legal existence in Massachusetts
or in Maine.




ARTICLE XII.
CONDITION OF THE
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS
OF MAINE,
AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.
COPIED FROM PAPERS OF HON. WM. D. WILLIAMSON,
BY JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST.
28








RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS.
WHEN the Revolution terminated, Maine contained
forty-one incorporated towns, and in 1784, the year after
the ratification of peace, there were in them thirty-one
resident located ministers of the Congregational and
Presbyterian orders, including three installed that year.
To this period a remarkable unanimity prevailed among the
people about their religious sentiments. There was a
single society of German Lutherans, at Waldoboro', that
had existed for over forty years. Its minister, for nearly a
quarter of a century, was the excellent Mr. Schaeffer, from
Germany. There were then no Catholics in Maine, except
the Romish missionaries and their Indian converts.
The thirty-one Congregational and Presbyterian ministers settled in our State in 1784, were as follows:
Thomas Brown,          Westbrook,
Ephraim Clark,         Cape Elizabeth,
Paul Coffin,           Buxton,
Samuel Deane,          Portland,
Ezekiel Emerson,       Georgetown,
Samuel Eaton,          Harpswell,
John Fairfield,        Saco,
William Fessenden,     Fryeburg,
Isaac Hovey,           Lebanon,
Moses Hemmenway,       Wells,




220       RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF MAINE,
Samuel Foxcroft,       New Gloucester,
Tristram Gilman,        North Yarmouth,
Thomas Lancaster,       Scarborough,
Samuel Langdon,        York,
Joseph Litchfield,      Kittery,
Daniel Little,          Kennebunk,
Isaac Lyman,            York,
James Lyon,             Machias,
John Miller,            Brunswick,
Matthew Merriam,        Berwick,
Silas Moody,            Kennebunkport,
Thomas Moore,           Wiscasset,
Peter T. Smith,         Windham,
Thomas Smith,           Portland,
Alpheus Spring,         Kittery,
Benjamin Stevens,       Kittery,
John Thompson,          Berwick,
Nathaniel Webster,      Biddeford,
Ebenezer Williams,      Falmouth,
Josiah Winship,         Woolwich,
Francis Winter,         Bath.
Although there were many Episcopalians among the
early settlers, and the inhabitants about Casco Bay, in the
days of the Rev. Mr. Gibson, and of Mr. Jordan, the
sect did not sustain itself after the province was adopted
by Ma1ssachusetts; nor did it revive until 1763, when
awakened by the dissatisfaction felt and manifested in the
settlement of Mr. Deane, as colleague with Mr. Smith of
Portland. The result was the ministry of the Rev. Mr.
Wiswell.
Of Friends, or Quakers, it is recorded that three of that
denomination of Christians, being females, driven by the
hand of persecution from  New   Hampshire, held an
exhortative meeting at New-ichawannock, (South Berwick,)
and then retired to Boston. No more is heard of them in




AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.      221
Maine for sixty-eight years.  The sect re-appeared at
Elliot, (Sturgeon Creek,) in October, 1730, where a few
Quaker families were residents, and where religious worship
was first established.
The second society of Friends was formed in 1740, at
Falmouth. The increase of this people caused much
anxiety among the Congregationalists. Under date of
July 30th of that year, the Rev. Mr. Smith records in his
diary, that "the church kept a day of fasting and prayer
"on account of the spread of Quakerism. Mr. Jefferds
"and myself prayed, and Mr. Thompson preached in the
"forenoon, and Mr. Allen and Mr. Lord prayed, and Mr.
" Willard preached in the afternoon." When their worship
was established, July 22d, 1743, he says, "many strange
"Quakers in town." The third society was formed at
South Berwick, in 1742, by John Churchman, a celebrated
preacher of his order, from Pennsylvania, who visited this
section of country that year. Seven years afterwards, a
meeting-house was erected and worship became constant.
In 1751, a fourth society was established in that part of
original North Yarmouth, which is now Harpswell. For
about twenty years a monthly meeting was alternately held
there and at Portland. It was afterwards discontinued at
the former place, and transferred to Durham. The fifth
society was established in 1779, at Windham, and the
sixth, in 1780. Mr. Smith's diary states, February 14th,
1782, "the people are in a sad tumult about Quaker
"meetings, ministers and taxes."  It appears that the
whole number of societies at the close of the Re-volution
was only six, comprising probably not over a thousand
members.
The Batists, in 1783, were more numerous. Their first
appearance in Maine was at Kittery, in 1681, when several
individuals were baptized, and on the 25th of Septembelr,
in the following year, they were embodied into a chuach.
Elder William Screven was their minister. Persecuted as




222       RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF MAINE,
they were, another year witnessed their effectual removal
or dispersion, and nothing more is heard of this sect in
Maine for eighty-three or eighty-four years. In 1767,
however, several of the denomination resident at Blackberry
Hill, in Berwick, avowed their religious sentiments, and
the next year formed a church. The next and first one
after the preceding was the only one now extant. Their
pastors were, first, Elder Joseph Emery, and second, Elder
William Hooper. The second Baptist church was formed
at Sanford, in September 1772. Elder Gideon Cook and
Elder Pelatiah Tingley were the first pastors. The third
Baptist church and society were gathered in 1780, in the
northerly part of Wells. Their first minister was Elder
Nathaniel Lord, and their second, Elder Joseph Eaton.
The fourth church was established at Shapleigh, in 1781.
Elders Nehemiah Davis and William Goding being successively pastors; the fifth at Lyman, (Coxall,) in 1782, Elder
Simon Locke, pastor; the sixth at Thomaston, in 1784, and
the seventh at Bowdoinham, the same year, under the
charge of Elder Job Macomber.
But these were all Calvinistic Baptists, of "close
"communion." A few, in 1780, the earliest in New England, dissented from them, espoused the faith of Freewill
believers, and Elder Benjamin Randall, of New Durham,
New Hampshire, first openly preached the doctrine that
year. His original and immediate coadjutor was the Rev.
Pelatiah Tingley, already a Calvinistic Baptist pastor of
the Sanford church. The doctrine was embraced in
different places with surprising avidity, so that in the
course of the succeeding year, through the efforts of these
two elders, there were churches established in Woolwich,
Georgetown, Hollis, Edgecomb, New   Gloucester and
Parsonfield, each constituted of "Freewill Baptists."
Quarterly meetings were appointed to be holden as early
as 1783, and the denomination, which had been greatly




AT THE CLOSE OF THE RETOLUTION.      223
enlarging itself every year, became permanently established
about that time. But yet the names of their ministers do
not immediately appear. At first they were exhortative
preachers, more distinguished for their enthusiastic fervor
and feeling, than for their learning and orthodoxy.
At this period, therefore, there were but few Baptist
ministers of note. A few sketches of their respective
characters may fit this place.
Elder William Screven was born in England, in 1629.
He came to this country, probably when about thirty-six
years old, and married Bridget Cutts of Kittery, the sister
of Richard Cutts. The Baptists, or as they were then
termed Ana-Baptists, were well established in Massachusetts, although a penal law against them had been enacted
as early as 1646. Mr. Screven chose Kittery as a place of
more security against persecution. When the Provincial
administration of Maine was about to be organized, he
became bold and zealous in his sentiments. His natural
talents were of a high order. He was possessed of a lively
imagination, and his piety was sincere. A good English
scholar, his manners and address were exceedingly
prepossessing. As a Baptist church existed in Boston,
formed in 1665, his brethren at Kittery, by Isaac Hull and
John Farnum, in their behalf, gave him a letter to the
Boston church in these words: —"To all whom it may
" concern: These are to certify that our beloved brother,
"William Screven, is a member in communion with us,
"and having had trial of his gifts among us, and
"finding him to be a man whom God hath qualified and
"furnished with the gifts of his Holy Spirit and Grace,
" enabling him to open and apply the word of God, through
"the blessings of the Lord Jesus, to the building up of
"souls in the knowledge of Him, we do therefore appoint,
"approve and encourage him to exercise his gifts in the
"place where he lives, or elsewhere, as the Providence of




224       RELIGIOU'S DENOMINATIONS OF MAINE,
"God may cast him; and so the Lord help him to urge his
"glory in all things, and to walk humbly in the fear of His
"name."
Elder Isaac Backus, in his History of the Baptist Church,
says when the ministers and magistrates of the place were
made acquainted with these proceedings, they sulmmoned
the believers before them, and threatened punishment, if
more meetings were held. On the seventeenth of August,
1682, the Provincial Assembly of Maine summoned Mr.
Screven before them, and after investigating the charges
raised, awarded sentence, "that he should not, on any
"pretence whatever, have any private religious exercise at
"his own house, or elsewhere, on the Sabbath, and that he
"pay a fine of ten pounds for preceding offences."  He was
then tendered liberty to return to his family, in case he
would amend his ways. But he refused, and was thereupon ordered to recognize for future good behavior, and to
stand committed until the order of court was performed.
It is believed that this is the only record of a prosecution
in Maine on account of religion, and it is to be regretted
that our annals have even this single stain.
A church was nevertheless established, and the covenant
signed, September 25, 1682, by Elder Screven, Richard
Cutts, six other men, and several women, and the ordinances administered, Mr. Screven being the under shepherd of
the flock. But foreseeing no certain relief from these
persecutions, and convinced that religious liberty could be
elsewhere enjoyed, he chose as the wiser alternative, to
remove, rather than to contend. Therefore, in the summer
of 1683, he and a number of his church took a water passage to South Carolina, and settled on Cooper river, near
the present site of Charleston. He was subsequently
requested to accept the pastoral charge of the Baptist
church and society in Boston, but finding himself happily
situated in a flourishing community, he declined the
invitation. He lived there thirty years after his removal.




AT THE CLOSE OF THE EEVOLUTION.       225
His death occurred in 1713, at the age of eighty-three.
He was exceedingly beloved as a zealous Christian, and
esteemed as a talented preacher. He had a family of
eleven children. His son William, who remained at
Kittery, represented that town in the General Court of
1694.
Elder Pelatiah Tingley, a graduate of Yale College, in
the class of 1761, was the first minister of the Calvinistic
Baptist church in Sanford, taking its pastoral charge
within two years after its formation in 1772. He was an
evangelical preacher, and a good man, fond of innovation,
and perhaps too much given to change. He was among
the first to preach the "Freewill" doctrine adopted in 1780,
and continued in that faith, as is believed, until the last.
He remained at Sanford until 1782.   Elder Zebadiah
Richardson preached there three years after Elder Tingley,
Elder Otis Robinson, ordained in 1798, succeeded him.
Elder Joseph Emery was the first ordained Baptist
minister of Berwick. It is believed that he was settled
about 1780, and remained five years. He was succeeded
in 1785 by Elder William Hooper. His successor, Elder
Nathaniel Lord, was the first ordained Baptist minister of
Wells. He was settled about three years after the establishment of the church there in 1780.
Elder Nehemiah Davis was settled over the second or
eastern Baptist society of Shapleigh, about 1790.
The first Baptist minister in Lyman was Elder Simon
Locke. He was settled about 1785, and for a long time was
pastor. He also partook, once, at least, of the wild olive,
for in 1808 he consented to leave his flock in the wilderness
to serve as representative at the General Court.
Isaac Case, first elder of the Baptist church at Thomaston, commenced his ministry there about 1785, and after
eight years, went to Winthrop. He was the father of the
Honorable Isaac Case, a physician at Hampden and
Levant, and a senator in the Maine Legislature. Elder
29




226       RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF MAINE,
Elisha Snow succeeded him. He died in the ministry, a
very old man. I have heard him preach. He was
unquestionably pious, sound in faith and in doctrine. Old
fashioned in style, he was learned only in the Scriptures
and in the knowledge of God. He used no notes, spoke
with a loud voice, and his discourse abounded with more
words than matter. His peculiarities of zeal and manner
were neither few nor common.
Elder Job Macomber was the first ordained elder of the
Baptist church in Bowdoinham. He was settled about
1784, and maintained his pastoral relation for thirty-four
years. He was assisted and succeeded by the Rev. Daniel
Pierson.
Of these fifteen Baptist elders, including Mr. Screven, it
is believed that only one or two received a collegiate education. The public mind was undergoing a memorable change
as to ministerial qualifications.  More was thought of
ready gifts and fervent feeling, and less of sound learning
than in the preceding age. Many believed that it was not
apostolic for ministers to have salaries settled upon them,
to preach for stipulated wages, to appear as hirelings.
Such, numbers supposed, carried the appearance of caring
rather for the fleece than for the flock. As those sentiments
accorded with the poverty which resulted from the war,
and as the Congregational ministers had perhaps in some
measure abated in their studies, their fervor and their
efforts, it was not strange that a new sect should increase
at that period. The habit of preaching without notes,
which the Baptist elders had, rendered them exceedingly
popular. Indeed, it became a proverb with them, that
"reading is not preaching." But although they and their
adherents long held literature almost in contempt, for the
last thirty years their taste for letters has been reviving.
The Methodists, as a sect of Christians, did not appear
in Maine until seven years after the declaration of peace.
In 1784 the celebrated John Wesley addressed a letter from




AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.      227
Bristol, England, to his American brethren, in which he
states as follows:
"By a very uncommon train of providences, many of
"the provinces of North America are totally disjoined from
"the British Empire, and erected into independent states.
"The English government has no more control over them,
"either civil or ecclesiastical, than over the States of Hol"land. In England there are bishops, who have a legal
"jurisdiction; in America there are none, and but few
"parish ministers, so that for some hundreds of miles
"together, there are none either to baptize, or administer
"the Lord's supper. I have accordingly appointed Dr.
"Cooke and Mr. Francis Asbury to be joint superintend"ents over our brethren in North America." With this
address Doctor Cooke came over, and summoned a General
Conference at Baltimore, in December of the same year.
The "Methodist Episcopal Church," and a platform of
"Discipline" were fully established, and Mr. Asbury
formally elected and ordained bishop, the first of the
denomination in this country.
In 1790, Elder Jesse Lee of Prince George County,
Virginia, the Methodist apostle of New England, first
appeared at Boston, Lynn, and Newburyport. Under the
auspices of the first conference, which convened at Lynn,
he visited Maine the same year. He preached in Saco,
September 10th, and extended his circuit through Castine,
Bangor, Hallowell, Portland, and the settlements on
Sandy River. On a review of his travels, and the acceptability which his doctrine received in different places, he
established the "Readfield Circuit," a vineyard in which
the first spiritual laborer was Elder Philip Wager. At that
time the "Boston District" embraced the whole of
Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, presided over
by Elder Lee. The second district was "Portland Circuit,"
in which an Elder was appointed to travel, and Enoch
Mudge and Elias Hull were assigned to Readfield. In




228       RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS OF MAINE,
1795, the Penobscot circuit, being the third one in the
district, was formed through the exertions of the Rev.
Joshua Hall from the New London Conference. Two
years afterward, Maine of itself became a district, in which
Joshua Taylor was Presiding Elder.
Several of the earlier Methodist elders have been
ministers and men of considerable distinction. Elder Lee
was indefatigable in his efforts. In 1809 he published a
"Short History of the Methodists " in the United States.
According to his statements, between the years 1769 and
1806, inclusive, there had been in full connection, nine
hundred and eighty-eight travelling preachers. Of these,
eight of the immigrants from England had returned;
eighty-five had died in the work; twenty-eight had left in
good standing, seventeen had been expelled; five hundred
and thirty-three, after travelling, had located themselves,
and the remainder were then preaching on the circuits.
Elder Lee was endowed with good natural abilities. Easy
of access, and affable in his manners, he was well fitted
by gifts and graces for his position.
Elder Enoch Mudge was among the first subjects of
conversion under the itinerant preaching of the Rev. Mr.
Lee at Lynn. In 1795, he commenced his ministerial
labors in Maine at Readfield and its vicinity. About ten
years afterward he became located in Orrington. There
he preached for over eleven years. In 1811, 1814, and
1816, the town returned him their Representative to the
General Court. Before the separation he returned to Lynn,
where he continued in the ministry for several years. His
natural abilities were such, that, although having had but
a common education, he became an excellent and acceptable preacher. His style was good, his voice pleasant, his
manner prepossessing, and his discourses instructive. In
stature he was short and stout. He had a fair countenance,
and thick lips. I have listened to his sermons with
pleasure and profit.




AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION.      229
Elder Joshua Hall settled in Frankfort in 1795. He was
then a young man. He proved both a popular preacher
and a popular politician. In 1814 he represented his
adopted town in the Legislature and was subsequently
chosen to the same trust. In 1830 he was a member of
the Senate of Maine. After many trials for the Presidency
of that body, he was selected, and held the position of
Governor for a few days before Governor Hunton was
qualified. He was a man of gifts, of character and of
piety; but he could pray much better than he could
debate. He appeared to more advantage in a conference
room than in a deliberative assembly. He was the pioneer
of Methodism in eastern Maine.








ARTICLE XIII.
NOTICES OF THE
POWELL FAMILY,
AND
EXTRACTS FROM    MANUSCRIPTS OF T. D. POWELL.
GIVEN TO ELIZA SUSAN QUINCY, 1848, BY THE NEPHEW OF
MRS. POWELL,-JOHN BROMFIELD, ESQ., OF BOSTON,
AND COPIED BY HER FOR THE MAINE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1869.
5 PARK STREET, BOSTON, MASS.








THE POWELL FAMILY.
JEREMIAH DUMMER POWELL, who owned lands at North
Yarmouth, Maine, in the last century, which he inherited
from his father, John Powell, was born June 3d, 1720.
His mother, Ann Dummer Powell, was sister to Lieutenant
Governor Dummer, and the celebrated Jeremiah Dummer,
agent for Massachusetts at the Court of Queen Anne.
John Powell was Secretary to Lieutenant Governor
Dummer.
Copy of a memorandum in the handwriting of Jeremiah
Dummer Powell.
"I received a Commission as Justice of the Peace for
"the County of York, from Governor Shirley, dated
"August, 1744. 1745.-I went Representative from North
"Yarmouth, and served the town as Representative about
"16 or 17 years between 1745 & 1766. I was then chosen
"into the Council.
"1762.-I was appointed Lieutenant Colonel under
"Colonel Waldo.
"1763.-I was appointed First Justice of the Court of
"Common Pleas in Cumberland County.
"1767.-I was appointed Justice through the Province.
"The three last Commissions were under Governor
"Bernard.
"My father, John Powell, died October 1, 1742. I lived
30




234         NOTICES OF THE POWELL FAMILY.
"with him at North Yarmouth, and after his death I took
"his eastern lands, and lived at North Yarmouth.
"I married Sarah Bromfield September 15, 1768, and
"now live with her at North Yarmouth.
"JEREMIAH POWELL.
"OCTOBER 11, 1769."
The elder sons of John Powell,* were John Powell, who
married Miss Tallmadge of Connecticut. He left Boston
in 1776, with the loyalists, went to England and never
returned. His son, William Dummer Powell, was educated
in Massachusetts and married an Englishwoman, a Miss
Murray, who was on a visit to Boston, they went to England, and resided there until he received the appointment
of Chief Justice of Upper Canada in 1785, when they
returned to America, accompanied by his sister, Ann
Powell, whose Journal describing their passage and
journey from  Montreal to Detroit is a very interesting
narrative.t Miss Powell was a very accomplished woman.
She married Mr. Clarke, a brother of Mrs. J. S. Copley,
(and an uncle of Lord Lyndhurst,) and died early in life
deeply regretted by her friends.
William D. Powell, the son of John Powell, resided in
Boston; he married Mary Bromfield, T sister of the wife of
his brother, Jeremiah D. Powell, and of Abigail Bromfield
who   married William  Phillips, and whose daughter,
Abigail Phillips, married in 1769, Josiah Quincy, jun., of
* The Secretary of Lieutenant Governor Dummer.
t Chief Justice Powell died at Toronto, Upper Canada, 1834,
aged 79. His widow died in 1849, aged 94.
1 Their daughter, Susan Powell, married Honorable Jonathan
Mason of Boston, and Anna Powell, Thomas Perkins, Esq. Their
descendents are numerous, portraits of Governor and of Jeremiah
Dummer are in their possession. They are fine portraits, probably
by Sir Godfrey Kneller.




NOTICES OF THE POWELL FAMILY.        235
Boston,* an eminent orator and patriot, who died on his
return from England, in 1775, April 26, aged 31 years.
Some short memorandums remain among Mr. Powell's
manuscripts of journey, expenses, &c. The following extract gives an idea of the modes of travelling in 1770, a
contrast to the railroad speed of 1869:"September 27, 1770.-Set out for Boston by land. My
"sister Susan, and my wife's sister, Betsey Bromfield, in
"nly chaise,t with my boy Boston to drive them. Mrs.
"Powell and I in Dr. Russell's chaise, I hired for the jour"ney. We put up at Patten's in Kennebunk; a fine day.
"Friday, September 28.-On our journey. Put up at
"Dr. Cutter's at Portsmouth, sent my boy and horses to a
tavern.
"Saturday, September 29.-A fine day. Set out on our
"journey, went to Exeter and heard Mr. Whitfield preach,
"and dined at Col. Gilman's, and then set out and got to
"Brother Bromfield's at Newburyport, and put up to keep
"Sabbath.
"Sabbath Day, September 30.-A fine day. Mr. Whit"field died this morning at six o'clock, very sudden, at Mr.
"Parsons'. He went to bed well, after supper, and
"pleasant all the evening. We all went to see him, just at
"night. He was to have preached to-day for Mr. Parsons.
"We all hands heard Mr. Cary in the morning, and Mr.
" Marsh in the afternoon.
"Monday, October 1.-A fine day. I set out for Boston
"with sister Susan,, and put up at Porter's at Windhalm.
* The late Josiah Quincy of Boston, President of Harvard, who
died in 1864, aged 92 years, was their son.
t These chaises had a small seat for the driver, usually a boy,
placed low down in front of the vehicle, very near the horse.
+ Susan Powell married Symmes, and resided at Andover.




236         NOTICES OF THE POWELL FAMILY.
"I left Mrs. Powell and her sister Betsy not well, at their
"brother's, John Bromfield, with my boy and chaise.
"Tuesday, October 2.-A raw, cold day. Sister Susan
"and I got to Madam Foxcroft's * at Cambridge, by - past
"one o'clock to dinner. The General Court sitting, and
"we got to Boston by dark.
"Tuesday, October 9.-Mrs Powell and sister, and my
"boy Boston, got to Boston well; their brother, John
"Bromfield, came with them.
"Thursday, October 11.-My boy Boston, the old horse,
"and Dr. Russell's chaise, sailed for North Yarmouth in
"Sweetser's. A fine wind.t
"Tuesday, October 30.-My poor boy Boston, died with
"a nervous fever, after a few days' sickness, aged 15 years,
"a great loss- a fine boy. 4
"Monday, November 5.-I got home, found Boston dead
"and buried, and Dinah sick. I left Mrs. Powell in
"Boston, I am all alone.
"November 28, 1770, Wednesday.-A right down winter
"snowstorm all day, the first this fall, and after a fine
"warm spell for 10 or- 12 days. I this day, for the first
"time, put up all my cattle in the barn, excepting my oxen
" and milch cows we have tied up some nights past.
"Thursday, December 6, 1770.-A pleasant day for the
"season. Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Gilman don't shine on
* Mrs. Foxcroft of Cambridge was the aunt of Mrs. Powell,
sister of her mother, Mrs. E. Bromfield; they were danghters of J.
Coney, a merchant of Boston.
The house of Mr. Foxcroft is yet standing, a fine old mansion on
the road to Mount Anburn, now, 1869, the property of the family
of the late William Wells of Boston.
t These were merely occasional memorandums, many days often
passed between the dates.
t The boy Boston was undoubtedly a slave, but seems to have
been kindly and affectionately treated and remembered.




NOTICES OF THE POWELL FAMILY.       237
"these occasions in his performances. I din'd at Mrs.
"Richmond Loring's, with Mrs. Gilman and Madam
"Loring. I am alone except my servants, Mrs. Powell in
"Boston. Mr. Shaw and wife and family dined with my
"people.
"Friday, December 21.-A rainy day. Coz. Greely got
"in from Boston, brought me letters &c., from Boston.
"My wife there. I purpose to go up in a short time.
"Sabbath Day, December 23.-A fine morning, but a
"raw, cold day, and the roads slippery and full of ice.
"Colonel Bayley, Captain Little, and Dr. Calef of
"Ipswich at meeting. Got to town last evening. The new
"preacher, Mr. Cheever, got to town last night to preach
"at Harisickles.
"Tuesday, December 25, 1770.-A very cold night and
"day, the first this season. A cold Christmas, but pleasant
"and clear.
"Company dined with me, Mr. Gilman, Madam Loring,
"Deacon Mitchell, and Mrs. Polly White, Justice Mitchell
"and Lady, Uncle John Loring and Lady, Mr. Richmond
"Loring and Lady. Captain Eben Gray got home last
"night, been gone these six months or more.
"Sabbath Day, December 30.-A very fine, pleasant day,
"not cold. Mr. Gilman, I think, preached two serious,
"good, and sensible sermons from John the 5th and 39th:
"'Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
"'eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.' (In
"particular the last clause.)
"On the whole we have had a very fine month of Decem"ber, not more than three or four cold winter days, and no
"very bad storms yet. If we had a little more snow it
"would be better."
These memorandums are written separately on small
pages, and many are probably lost; few of any interest
remain, except the following:




238         NOTICES OF THE POWELL FAMILY.
"1782, December 3d.-Arrived in Boston and embarked
"the French troops under the command of the Baron de
"Viomenil from the southward, in four divisions. About
"three or four thousand including officers. Very fine
"troops. One division comes on Tuesday, 3d of Decem"ber, 2d division the 4th, the 3d and 4th the 5th and 6th
"day.
"December 4th.-A public dinner to the French officers,
"about 50.
"December 13.-The Governor and Council dined with
"the French General de Viomenil, a large company.
"December 23, 1782.-The French fleet, with the troops,
"sailed from Boston, a large number of merchant vessels
"sailed under the convoy."
Honorable Jeremiah Powell, a member of the Honorable
Council died on a visit to his estate at North Yarmouth,
Maine, September, 1784, aged sixty-four years.
His widow, Mrs. Sarah Powell, survived v many years,
and died March, 1806, aged seventy-four. "Her mild and
"amiable disposition endeared her to the whole circle of
"her acquaintance. Her piety was unostentatious, and
"the hopes and promises of the Gospel cheered her to the
"last moment of her existence."
* Notices in the Boston newspapers.




ARTICLE XIV.
ORIGIN OF ARTICLE VIII.,
LITERATURE,
IN THE
CONSTITUTION OF MAINE.








LITERATURE IN THE CONSTITUTION.
DURING the session of the Legislature of 1834, as a
member of the House I attended a meeting of the Committee on Education, when the subject of making a grant
to one of the Seminaries of learning was under discussion.
Governor King being present was requested to give his
views to the committee.
He went very fully into the question, taking strong
ground in favor not only of providing for Common Schools,
but also of endowing our higher Seminaries.   After
speaking at considerable length upon education generally,
and the means of promoting it, he stated that Article VIII.
of our Constitution was drawn by Mr. Jefferson, under
these circumstances:
After the vote of separation was passed and Governor
King was elected a Delegate to folm the Constitution, but
before the Convention was held business called him to
Washington. While there, it occurred to him that he
should be very glad to see Mr. Jefferson and get his views
of the best Constitution for the State. So he "took a
"turn down to Monticello to see and converse with his old
"friend," as he expressed it. He spoke of the interview as
affording him a great deal of pleasure. Mr. Jefferson
seemed to take a deep interest in the new State, and said
it was very important to start right. They talked about
the general provisions of the Constitution, but there was
31




242    LITERATURE IN THE CONSTITUTION OF MAINE.
nothing that he entered into with so much spirit as the
cause of education. Upon that he dwelt as the main
pillar of the prosperity and character of the State.
Near the close of the interview Governor King said to
Mr. Jefferson, "I wish you would write what you have
"said, putting it into the form of an Article to be incorpo"rated into our Constitution."  Thereupon Mr. Jefferson
took his pen and wrote out the substance, if not the exact
words, of Article VIII., which was inserted through the
influence of Governor King.
SAMUEL P. BENSON.
BRUNSWICK, FEBRUARY 9, 1870.




ARTICLE      XV.
COASTING VOYAGES IN THE GULF OF MAINE,
MADE IN THE YEARS 1604, 5 AND 6, BY
SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN:
A PAPER READ AT THE WINTER MEETING OF THE MAINE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN PORTLAND, FEB. 18, 1875.
BY GEN. JOHN MARSHALL BROWN,
OF FALHOUTH.








PREFATORY NOTE.
THE paper which follows was prepared, under many disadvantages, in great haste. It was my purpose to call attention to the
extremely interesting narrative of Champlain, which, as found in
the original edition of 1613, is comparatively unknown to students
of American History, and not attempt either a translation, or even
an extended compilation.
The accounts of De Monts' expedition, and his operations and
discoveries on our coast, seem to have been chiefly taken by our
historians from Lescarbot, who was not particularly friendly to
Champlain, and had little interest in the events which preceded his
own arrival in the country. Champlain's own journal published in
1613, and now accessible through the admnirable reprint of the Abbe
Laverdiere, is very complete and detailed in its statements, and the
source to which we must go for orig/inal information. A subsequent
edition published in 1632 is a summary of the work done during
Champlain's residence here, and must have been prepared by other
hands. In this edition the events of the three years are massed
together, and the voyages of 1604 and 5 appear as one. The errors
which have become incorporated in our published histories are
traceable to this confusion. At the time this paper was prepared I
knew of no attempt, in English, to give a narrative of these events in
their proper order, or to call attention to their singular bearing upon
the early history and cartography of our State.  I have since
learned that the Prince Society is soon to publish a translation of
the edition of 1613.








CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS OF THE COAST OF MAINE.
THE results of the Plantation at Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay have been so extended and permanent, that
the earlier attempts at colonization on the coast of New
England have, until recently, met with little attention or
favor from the historian. It has very properly become
the special care of our own Society to throw light into this
partial darkness, and give due prominence to efforts no
less honorable or heroic, and antedating by many years
the settlements which, under God, have been so fruitful of
good to our country and the world. I have felt, however,
that even we, in our zeal to add to the lustre of the great
deeds of adventure performed by men of our own lineage
and tongue, may have slighted that hardy and chivalrous
race, who from across the English Channel held up a
constant defiance to our forefathers, and in the very waters
which bathe the headlands and beaches of our State, kept
up a sturdy and honorable rivalry in adventure, discovery
and trade. The north-eastern portion of North America
was called New France more than fifty years before it was
called New England.
In 1605, fifteen years before the Mayflower came to
anchor in Plymouth harbor, its waters had been sounded,
and its shores explored by an organized colony of French
seeking for a permanent home; and eight years later there
was published at the little shop of Jean Berjon, in the Rue




248           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
St. Jean de Beauvais at Paris, a chart attesting by its
surprising accuracy the fidelity and skill with which the
work had been performed. At that time the larger part
of the present State of Maine had been under the dominion
of France for nearly a century, nor were these pretensions
abandoned for nearly a century and a half later, when, by
the fall of Quebec in 1759 the eastern portion of our State
passed forever from the possession of France. This long
occupation having its beginning in days so shadowy and
remote that fable and tradition have supplanted history,
has from the beginning been fruitful of stirring adventures
by sea and land, lofty ambition, heroic endurance,.patient
suffering, the prowess of gentlemen and men of arms, and
great numbers of "toilers of the sea," the sacrifices of
pious women, and martyred missionaries of the church.
It is the object of this paper to make brief mention of
some adventures which mark a most important era in the
history of Maine, and stand as it were on the border line
which separates the fanciful from the real: adventures, in
which there were many men of heroic build, but chief
among them all, the man whose modest pen has preserved
the story.
Samuel Champlain was born in 1567, at the little town
of Brouage in Saintonge, now the Department of C(hareilte!ii'iricir'. For years the people of his neighborhood must
have been familiar with the great cod fisheries of the
countries beyond the sea. His father was a fisherman and
may himself have made the voyage to the new found land.
The son had the Basque eagerness for adventure; naturally
a sailor he became an officer in Royal marine; he served
also with honor in the wars, active everywhere, soldier or
sailor as the emergency might arise. He early attracted
the notice of the King and received many marks of his
confidence and favor, and was ennobled for his worth.
After a short service with the army in Brittany he spent
three years in the West Indies and Mexico, there and




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           249
everywhere giving free scope to his wonderful powers of
observation and facility of description, making notes and
maps, and sketching in his way men and things, whether
man or beast or fruit or flower. Safely at home again his
restless nature urged him to another quarter of the globe,
and in 1603 he sailed with Du Pont-Grave and explored
the St. Lawrence. The following year he joined the
company of De Monts, not, as some historians assert, the
pilot of the expedition, but especially commissioned, it
would appear, by the King himself, a Royal Geographer,
ordered to make discoveries and prepare maps and charts,
and report directly to the Crown. Three years he remained
here, faithfully carrying out, under circumstances of great
hardship and peril, the instructions he had received, and
the record he has left is a marvel of accuracy, patience
and indomitable courage. The entire coast line of the
Gulf of Maine was reconnoitered and described, and charts
made of the principal harbors, which were in 1613 published at Paris under his own supervision.
The purpose of this paper renders unnecessary any
particular allusion to his subsequent career. It is enough
that America claimed him as her own, and his tomb is in
the city he founded, in the New France, to whose welfare
he devoted the best energies of his life.
The expedition of De Monts was prepared with great
deliberation, and its composition arranged with thoughtful
reference to the needs and possibilities of the future colony.
The Company numbered on its rolls, soldiers inured to
foreign service, sailors who were familiar with American
waters, skilled mechanics, and gentlemen of rank.
De Monts was the first to leave France, sailing from
Havre de Grace on the 7th of April in a vessel commanded
by Captain Timothee; with him were the Sieurs de
Poutrincourt and Champlain, and other gentlemen. Three
days later, on the 10th, the other vessel, commanded by
Captain Morel of Honfleur, with the Sieur de Pont-Grave
32




250           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
and the rest of the Company, sailed with stores to join De
Monts at Canceau, which had been selected as the rendezvous.
When at sea, however, De Monts changed his plans and
directed his course to a port further to the westward. On
the 1st of May he sighted Sable Island, on the 8th the
main land at Cape la Heve, and on the 10th made a
harbor, at the present Liverpool, called by him "Port
"Rossignol." On the 13th the party disembarked at "Port
"au Mouton" and proceeded to erect shelters, having
determined to await here the arrival of their consort, in
search of whom a small party was sent toward Canceau in
a shallop with letters of advice.
Meanwhile on the 19th of May, Champlain, accompanied
by the Sieur Ralleau, secretary of De Monts, and ten men,
left "Port au Mouton" for the purpose of making a
reconnoisance of the coast. He rounded Cape Sable,
passed along the west coast of Nova Scotia and penetrated
the Bay of Fundy to nearly the site of Annapolis, and then
returned to "Port au Mouton " about the middle of June.
On the following day the Company, now increased by the
arrival of the other vessel, abandoned their temporary
shelters. Following the course which Champlain had
previously taken they diligently explored the south and
north shores of the Bay of Fundy, but without determining
upon the place for their settlement. Leaving the mouth of
of the St. John River and proceeding westward, they
landed first upon an island which, from the great number
of birds resembling magpies (rmargos,) they named "L'Isle
"aux margos;" the little cluster is now known as "The
"Wolves." Further to the westward could be seen other
islands, says Champlain, one of large extent, called by the
natives "Manthane," a name which, under the disguise of
"Menan," it still bears.
After leaving "Isles aux Margos" they came to a river
in the main land, and passing by the present site of




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           251
Eastport they entered the broad expanse of Passamaquoddy
Bay. Ascending the river they came to a point where
were two islands, on the larger of which the little colony
disembarked and began at once the necessary preparations
for their winter's residence. The narrative of Champlain
gives a simple but vivid picture of this diminutive settlement of the "Holy Cross," so short lived that its very site
was for more than a century unknown. It is now called
Neutral or De Monts Island, and the river is fitly called by
the name which the ill starred adventurers piously gave to
the first organized attempt to plant a colony on our shores.
It is well known that the vexed question of the precise
north-eastern boundary of the United States was only
determined by the identification of this island, so that in
more senses than one the little spot on our frontier has
acquired a national importance.
But the Sieur de Monts had other and higher objects in
view; his ambition reached beyond the narrow limits of
the little island of "St. Croix."  His busy brain found full
scope during the bustle of preparation, and while carpenters
and other artisans were at their work, and the various
laborers filled out the long summer days with their allotted
tasks, I can fancy there was great talk of what others had
done and they might do, among the gentlemen of the suite.
The daylight lingers long in these northern latitudes in the
summer time, and there was much opportunity for counsel
and little need of lamps at St. Croix at the time of which
the narrative now treats.
On the last day of August De Poutrincourt was sent
back to France with Secretary Ralleau, the former to make
arrangements for his own adventure at Port Royal, the
latter to put in order some of the affairs of the Company.
What followed I give, as nearly as space will allow, in
Champlain's own words. "After the departure of the
"vessels," he says, "the Sieur de Monts determined to send
"an expedition, without loss of time, along the coast of




252           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
" N'ortmbegue, and this he committed to my charge which
"was much to my liking. To this end I left St. Croix the
"2nd of September, 1604, with a pattachec of seventeen or
"eighteen tons, twelve sailors and two savages as guides.
"This day we found the vessels of the Sieur de Poutrin"court which were anchored at the mouth of the river on
"account of the bad weather, and from this spot we could
"not move until the fifth of the same month, and then
"when two or three leagues at sea the fog came up so
"thick that we soon lost their vessels from sight. Continu"ing our course along the coast we made this day some
"twenty-five leagues and passed by a great quantity of
"islands, shallows and reefs, which extend seawards in
"places more than four leagues. We have named the
"islands' es isles rangees.'.... This same day we passed
"quite near an island which is some four or five leagues
"long and were nearly lost on a little rock just under'water which made a small hole in our bark near the
"keel.... The island is very high, and so cleft in
"places that at sea it appears as if seven or eight moun"tains were ranged side by side..... I have named
"this island,'L'isle des Monts-deserts,' its latitude is 440~.
" The next morning, 6th of September, we made two leagues
"and perceived a smoke in a creek which was at the foot
"of the mountains and saw two canoes propelled by
"savages who came within musket shot to reconnoitre
"us." At this point, which would appear to be on the
southern or south-western shore of Mount Desert, Champlain appears to have anchored for the night, for he says
that on the following day, which was the 7th of September,
the natives returned, and after receiving presents in
exchange for fish and game, consented to guide the
adventurers to their own home at Peimtegout where they
said their chief Bessabez was.
I quote again from Champlain: "I think that this river
"is the same called by several pilots and historians




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           253
"' Norutmbegue, and which has been described by most of
"them as broad and spacious, with very many islands, with
"its entrance in 43~ to 43 ~ of latitude, or, according to
"others, in 44~ more or less. As for the longitude, I have
"never read or heard anyone speak of it. They say also,
"there is a great city well peopled with savages, adroit
"and skillful, and used to the manufacture of cotton. I
"am sure that most of those who speak of these things
" have never seen them and derive their authority from men
"who know no more than themselves. I am ready to
"believe that there are some who have seen the mouth of
"the river, (i. e. the bay,) because there are a great many
"islands there and it is in 44~. But there is no appearance
"of anyone's having entered there, for they would have
"described it in quite another fashion in order to rid many
"of the doubt. I shall, therefore, narrate truly all that I
"have discovered and seen from the beginning as far as I
"have been."
Champlain then describes in great detail the physical
features of that wonderful portion of our coast called
Penobscot Bay, which he makes extend from     Mount
Desert in the east, to the promontory of Bedaledec on the
west, (the present Owl's Head.) Midway, and out at sea,
he describes that singularly picturesque island named by
him, "isle hadte,"  a name it still bears. Fish of all kinds
abound, and game which make the numerous islands a
frequent resort for the natives during the season. On the
western shore are the mountains of Bedcxedec, the Camden
hills of the present day, and everywhere are wooded
islands, low lying rocks, and dangerous reefs. With the
scrupulous care which characterizes him everywhere, he
gives the necessary directions for entering the head waters
of the bay.
"Coming to the South," he says, "of the'isle taute,' and
"ranging along the shore for a quarter of a league where are
" some rocks just out of water, and then heading to the west




254           CHAMPLAIN S EXPLORATIONS
"until you open all the islands which lie to the north of
"this island and you may be sure that when you see tile
"eight or nine summits of Isle des Monts-deserts and the
"heights of Bedabedec you are directly opposite the river of
" Norumbegue; to enter, you must head to the north towards
"the very high mountains of Bedabedec, and you will see
"no islands before you, and can enter safely with plenty of
"water."
Entering the Bay, Champlain proceeded under the
guidance of the savages he had taken at Mount Desert to
the narrows at the mouth of the river and ascended the
river to the point where the Kenduskeag stream enters it
at Bangor, he speaks with enthusiasm of the scenery, the
river banks covered with verdure, and here and there lovely
stretches of meadow. At this point his progress was
arrested by the falls. So he remained here and landed;
the great oaks on the shore seemed to form a sort of park,
to have been planted, he says, "for pleasure," but no city,
no population skilled in the domestic arts, neither there nor
anywhere on shore or on island was, as he says, "any
"town or village or any appearance of there having been
"any," only one or two squalid huts covered with bark
after the fashion which they had seen practised at the St.
Croix and on the shores of the great bay.
Here they met Bessabez, the chief or captain of the
tribe, and Cabahis, who had jurisdiction over a family or
tribe to the westward, perhaps at what is now Belfast.
Great stir there was among the dusky natives at the sight
of the strangers, dancing and singing, and much consumption of tobacco. But Cabahis drew himself apart from the
noisy throng for a while, because, as the narrative says,
"it was the first time he had ever seen Christians."
On the 17th of September, the day after all these
festivities, Champlain took the altitude and found 45~ 25'
north latitude and began the descent of the river, and so
continued coasting to the westward. At what I judge to




OF THE COAST OF xAINE.               255
be the Georges River their native guides left them because
the savages of the Quinibequty were their enemies. I quote
again: "We ranged along the coast some eight leagues to
"the westward as far as an island distant some ten leagues
"from the Quinibequy, where we were obliged to stop on
"account of bad weather and contrary winds; in one part
"of our route we passed a quantity of islands and breakers,
"very dangerous, and shelving out into the sea some
"leagues."  At this point the weather and head winds, and
the scarcity of provisions compelled our hardy adventurers to retrace their steps.  On the 23d of September,
three weeks after leaving St. Croix they set about on
their return, and in nine days after were greeted by their
companions.*
A few remarks may be permitted upon this voyage. It
resulted in giving to two of our most prominent and beautiful islands the names they still bear, "Mount Desert" and
"Isle Haute."   It was the first ascent of the Penobscot of
* It is almost incredible that in the histories of the United
States, New England and Maine, scarcely an allusion is made to this
expedition under the charge of Champlain.
Bancroft devotes a few lines to the operations of De Monts, under
the dates 1605-6, but does not mention Champlain's agency.
Williamson, quoting from Belknap, gives the same date. Folsom
notes the landing at Saco.  Judge Godfrey gives a somewhat
detailed account of the discoveries in the Penobscot, but erroneously
makes the date 1605, and De Monts one of the party.
Palfrey gives three pages to Goswold, one to Pring, one to
Weymouth, but dismisses the French discoveries in a few disparaging
lines. Emphasizing the fact of their having reached Cape Cod!!
but giving no account of the detailed operations on the coast of
Maine!!
Parkman's allusion to the voyage of 1604 is singularly brief and
incomplete.
The result which has been reached by this method of writing
history has been, whether intentional or not, to magnify the
English at the expense of the French, and Massachusetts at the
expense of Maine.




256           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
which any trustworthy record has been preserved. It
carried the flag of France and the banner of the church to
a remote point in the interior.
Two other noteworthy facts are that Champlain received
no intelligence of any Europeans on the coast, and found
no fixed settlements of natives. The savages lived on the
head-waters of the rivers and along the great carryingplaces which constituted a thoroughfare from one end of
the Acadian Peninsula to another, so that, as Champlain
was informed, one could go from the St. Croix to the St.
John and so to Quebec, or to the Penobscot and Kennebec,
and so by the Chaudiere to the St. Lawrence. The vast
network of rivers and lakes made communication easy and
rapid. That no tidings were received of any Europeans
on the coast is doubtless satisfactory evidence that at this
time, in 1604, and indeed within the memory of the
generation then living, there had been no attempt at
colonization, or even any exploration of the country
within the limits traversed by Champlain. It would seem
also to confirm the theory that Weymouth could not have
entered the Penobscot in the following year, for so important an event as the voyage now under consideration
certainly would have been reported to him.
During the month of Champlain's absence the little band
had busied themselves to make preparations for the winter,
and the accession to their number of the returned adventurers only gave new vigor to their efforts. Shelter was
provided, but it was scanty enough for the inclement
season, and disease of irresistible virulence, clutched at
these poor waifs from the shores of sunny France, and
closed their eyes to all earthly things. When the spring
opened the little cemetery had in it thirty-five graves,
nearly as many dead as living left to mourn their loss.
Dispirited at such great misfortunes, De Monts resolved
to abandon his plantation and return to France; but on
the 15th of June the little band was gladdened by the news




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           257
of the arrival of two vessels bringing men and provisions.
"On the seventeenth of the month," says Champlain,
"the Sieur de Monts decided to seek for a place better
"suited for habitation than ours, and on the eighteenth he
"left the island of St. Croix with some gentlemen, twenty
"sailors and two savages, Palornicas and his wife, whom
"he did not wish to leave behind, and whom we took with
"us as a guide to the country of the AlnovicMltqois, hoping
"by means of her to see and learn more of the country,
"for she was a native of it.
"So ranging along the coast between Diemane, which is
"about three leagues from the main land, we came to the
"southward of the'Isles rag'eIes' and anchored at one
"where there were so many crows that we named it'Isle
"'a',:x corneills,' from thence we made'L'isle des JMo,?ts"'deserIts,' which is at the entrance of the river lNormmllegye,
"as I have said before; thence we went some five or six
"leagues among several islands." These were doubtless
the Fox Islands, and here they found a good harbor. On
the 1st of July they set sail to the westward and made
some twenty-five leagues, passing the islands and reefs
Champlain had noticed in the previous voyage, and reaching the mouth of the Qiintibeqvy, as Champlain says, they
anchored some three hundred yards from the entrance in
five or six fathoms.
The narrative says: "At the entrance there is an island
" quite high which we have named' la tortue,' and between
"this and the main land are some scattered islands and
"rocks, covered at high water, but the sea breaks over
"them. The'Isle de la tortue' and the river are SSE. and
"NNW."
They were delayed here by the fog, but on the 5th of
July they began the exploration of the river. They were
now obviously in the Sheepscot River, which seems to have
been called also Quinibequy by the natives. At some
distance up the river they narrowly escaped being lost on
33




258            CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
a rock which they grazed in passing; further on they met
some savages in two canoes; by the aid of the wife of
their guide they accosted these hunters and secured their
services as guides to their chief lflanthoiomermer. Proceeding some miles they passed through a beautiful country
with fine meadow lands and little streams, then they passed
by an island some four leagues long, and at last reached
the head of the river, probably where is now Wiscasset.
Here was lclant/houmcrmerr, their chief, and some twenty-five
or thirty savages. There was at first some timidity on the
part of the natives, but the conference resulted amicably,
presents were exchanged, and a species of offensive and
defensive alliance concluded between the two parties. On
the following morning, under the guidance of the savages,
the party descended the river by another passage than that
of the previous ascent, with the intention of reaching a
lake, so called, which appeared to be a well known resort
of neighboring tribes. What follows I give in Champlain's
words:
"Passing by some islands each of the savages left an
"arrow near a cape by which all must pass; they believe
"that unless they do this the devil will bring about some
"misfortune; they live in this superstition as well as many
"others. Near this cape we passed a fall of water, but it
"was not done without great difficulty, for although we had
"a fair and fresh wind and carried all the sail we possibly
"could, we were obliged to take a hawser ashore and
"fasten it to the trees and then pull with all our strength, and
"thus by main force and the favoring wind we got through.
"The savages who were with us carried their canoes along
"the shore, being unable to make headway with their
"paddles. After having passed the fall we saw beautiful
"meadow lands. I was much astonished at this fall
"because we descended easily with the tide, but at the fall
"it was against us, but above the fall it ebbed as before
"much to our satisfaction. Pursuing our route we came to




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           259
" a lake which is three or four leagues long, with islands in
"it. Here descend two rivers, the Qvi;niibequy which comes
"from the northeast, and another which comes from the
"northwest, by which 3Jiarchim and SazTiovi, were to come,
"but having waited the whole of this day without seeing
"them we resolved to keep our time employed, and so
"weighed anchor and came to the mouth of the river."
Time will not permit a full translation of the very
interesting description which follows. It is evident that
Champlain ascended the Sheepscot to the northern
extremity of Westport, descended the river on the west
side of the island, passed close to what is now called
Hockamock point, pulled the vessel through upper Hellgate
and so entered the Kennebec proper, and passed on to
Merrymeeting Bay. The descent was made by the true
channel to the site of Fort Popham, where they probably
anchored, unless they made a harbor a little further to the
westward.  From  the Indians Champlain received an
accurate description of this noble river; they told him it
was the great route to the St. Lawrence, and explained to
him the connection between it and the Chaudiere, describing, in fact, the very route by which, one hundred and
seventy years later, the intrepid Arnold carried his brave
little army to the very walls of Quebec. They further told
him that there were no Indians on the coast, but that in
the interior, probably meaning Norridgewock, they lived
and cultivated the soil.
On the eighth of the month the party, previously
detained by the fog, set sail to the westward, probably
taking a direct course for the headland of Cape Elizabeth,
for they passed without entering Casco Bay, which
Champlain describes as full of islands, and beyond thim
to the west great mountains where dwells a savage chief
named "Anlela." The next day coasting along they saw
signs of habitations, smokes in the main land which seemed
to invite them, and many of the natives, more than eighty




260           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
in number, dancing and gesticulating on the shore. The
vessel came to off what is now Old Orchard Beach, and
anchored inside of what is now Stratton's Island. Here
there was a friendly confexence with the natives, and from
this point they made a visit to an island, "which," in
Champlain's language, "is very beautiful, having fine oaks
"and walnuts; the soil is cultivated and bears vines with
"good grapes in their season. They were the first we had
"seen since leaving Cape'la HIve.' This we called'L'isle
"'de Bacclus."' One can with difficulty recognize under
this description the Richmond Island of the present day.
The lofty oaks and walnuts, and luxuriant vines have
disappeared, and all that remains of the spot which, perhaps
more than any other on our coast, with the exception of
Pemaquid, was in the early days the resting place of trade
and active enterprise, is a bare, wind-swept field, uninviting
to all but the storm-beaten sailor who seeks shelter under
its lee.
"At high water," Champlain continues, "we weighed
"anchor and entered a little river, (the Saco,) which we
"could not do sooner on account of a bar, on which at low
"tide there is but one-half a fathom of water, but at the
"flood a fathom and one-half, and at the spring tide two
"fathoms, within are three, four, five and six," a very
accurate description of the physical features apparent to
this day. Champlain, with his customary exactness enters
into minute details of the habits, appearance, and character
of the people. The river, he says, was called the river of
the Chokzacoet country. They landed and examined the
little gardens of the inhabitants; Champlain and De Monts
were interested in the culture of maize, "They plant,"
says the narrative, "in gardens, sowing three or four grains
"in one spot, and then with the shell of the'signoc' they
"gather a little earth around it: three feet from that they
"sow again, and so on."
We can scarcely improve, even now, on this method of




OF THE COAST OF -MATNE.          21
planting that wonderful grain which Champlain calls
"wheat of India," and we Indian corn. A word may be
in place with reference to the singular agricultural implement used by the natives. Champlain says it was the
shell of the siln'oc, a remarkable fish to which, later on, he
gives some pages of description. It was simply the curious
shell of the horseshoe crab, and those who are familiar
with it can readily understand how serviceable it may have
been in their simpler gardening operations. Champlain
made a chart of this harbor, giving all the prominent
features of the coast and river line, with soundings, just as
he had conscientiously done before at the Kennebec, at
St. Croix, on the shore of the Bay of Fundy and Nova
Scotia. These were all studies for the maps, which, as
Royal Geographer, it was his special mission to prepare.
On the twelfth of the month, or probably on the
eleventh, because he says it was on Sunday and Sunday
was on the eleventh, the little band left " C/owacoet."
They made some twenty miles to the westward, but contrary
winds compelled them to anchor; on the main land where
they went ashore were meadow lands of great extent, but
only two natives were seen, who fled at their approach.
They saw great quantities of starlings, whose song like the
blackbirds of their own country, doubtless brought many
thoughts of France; and there were wild grapes also, and
walnuts, and luxuriant verdure. The coast, he says, was
sandy, as indeed it had been since they left the Kennebec.
The head wind continuing, they retraced their route some
six miles, and anchored at the harbor at Cape Porpoise,
which Champlain calls "Port aux isles," on account of the
three islands which furnish shelter there. But his observing eye had noticed the entrance of the Kennebunk River,
and he gives also a very correct description of this harbor,
with such sailing directions as would make the passage
easy to any navigator who might follow   him. His
computation of the latitude of this point is correct to




262           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
within five one-hundredths of a degree. It was not until
the fifteenth of the month that they were able to proceed
upon their journey. By the long sea beaches of Wells
and York and Hampton they coasted, but with no inducement to seek a harbor, and so as the sun was setting they
steered to the southward, passed the Merrimack and its
surrounding marshes, which, in the dim twilight seemed
like a great bay, caught a glimpse in the east of the Isles
of Shoals, and at last anchored under the shelter of Cape
Ann, to await the day.
We have no immediate interest in their explorations to
the southward; it is interesting to know that they crossed
Massachusetts Bay, entered on the eighteenth of the
month the harbor in which, fifteen years later, the Pilgrim
Fathers found their home, rounded the sandy promontory
of Cape Cod, and terminated their southward journey at
what is now Nanset. Evidently no knowledge of Gosnold's
expedition had reached our adventurers, for Champlain
gives his own names to the places he visited, and to Cape
Cod gives the more appropriate designation of Cap Blanc,
the White Cape.
On the 25th of July, De Monts, finding his stores rapidly
diminishing, decided to return to St. Croix. On his return
he stopped again at Chozacoet and here had an interview
with " Miarckhim," the Sagamo of Casco Bay, "who," says
Champlain, "had the reputation of being one of the
"bravest men of his country, and he had a fine manner,
"and all his gestures and movements were grave and
"dignified, savage though he was." They gave him presents, and he in return gave them a young Etechemin from
the eastward, an Indian boy whom he had made prisoner
in some foray. From the Saco they proceeded to the
Kennebec, arriving there on the 29th of July. Here they
had an interview with a chieftain named Anassou.
Again I quote from Champlain: " He told us there was
"a vessel six leagues from the harbor which had been




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           263
"engaged in fishing, and the people on board had killed
"five savages of this river, under the pretense of friendship,
"and according to his description we judge them to be
"English, and named the island where they were'Le Nef,'
"because at a distance it had that appearance."  (That is,
it looked like the hull of a ship.) This was Monhegan, and
in these few lines are the only allusions by Champlain to
contemporary English discoveries on our coast.  The
vessel was the Archangel, under George Weymouth.
From the Kennebec our adventurers steered for "Isle
"caute," arriving on the last of July, where they anchored
awaiting the dawn. August 1st they proceeded to Cap
Corneille, where they passed the night; on the second they
arrived at the old plantation at St. Croix, where they
found a vessel with supplies from France.
With reference to this second voyage of Champlain, a
few points are to be noticed. The previous discoveries
were passed by without further investigations; the party
did not even enter Penobscot Bay, but the exploration of
the Sheepscot and Kennebec was thorough.
The Indians were in the interior, and while they
appeared to have had some knowledge of Europeans, it
was not of such a character as to warrant an opinion that,
within their memory, there had been any white settlements
on the coast. Chouacoet was the most important point
discovered, and here appears to have been the only
settlement of the aborigines which had a permanent character.
Dissatisfied, both with his settlements at St. Croix, and
his discoveries to the south and west along the coast, De
Monts now determined to transplant his colony to Port
Royal. He himself returned to France. But Champlain
could not leave his work unfinished; he decided to remain,
and his simple, modest narrative gives us a vivid picture
of the preparations made for the ensuing winter. His
hope, as he says, was to make new discoveries in the
direction of Florida.




264           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPL LORATIONS
On the 1st of MlVarch, 1606, the Sieur du Pont-Grave
fitted out a vessel of about eighteen tons. On the sixteenth,
all being ready, they set sail, but were obliged to seek a
harbor on an island to the south of Grand Menan. On
the following day they made some fifty miles to the westward, probably near Mount Desert, but a severe storm so
buffeted them, that in the little harbor where they had
anchored they were driven ashore. After repairing the
frail bark they returned to Port Royal. On the 29th of
April they made another attempt, only to meet with fresh
disasters, for at the entrance to Port Royal they were
again cast ashore, losing their vessel, and running imminent
risk of their lives.
Disheartened at these disasters, and the non-appearance
of the vessels which were expected with supplies, Du Pont
decided to return to France, and on the 16th of July they
abandoned Port Royal, leaving two men who had bravely
volunteered to remain and guard the property which was
left behind. After having rounded Cape Sable, however,
they were gladdened by the sight of a shallop, in which
was Sieur Ralleau, secretary of De Monts. He announced
the arrival of the "Jonas," a vessel bringing new accessions
under the command of Poutrincourt, to the colony,
among others the versatile advocate Lescarbot, the future
historian of New France. So they gladly retraced their
steps, and on the 31st of July arrived once more at Port
Royal. The new comers set to work with commendable
vigor, and the story of their daily avocations, as narrated
by Lescarbot, is exceedingly entertaining; but with this
our limits will not permit us to dwell. Du Pont decided
to return to France and take with him all the company who
passed with him the previous winter, with a few exceptions.
Among these Champlain, who says: "I remained also,
"with the Sieur de Poutrincourt, intending by the grace of
"God, to finish and perfect the chart which I had com"menced of the country and the coast."




OF THE COAST OF MAINE.           265
After one ineffectual attempt, the party left Port Royal
on the 5th of September, 1606. On the seventh they
anchored in the St. Croix, on the eighth they visited, in a
small boat, the island where De Monts had spent the
dreary winter of 1604-5. They found some traces of the
gardens, still bearing some of the pot herbs planted so
long before, and some grain self-sown, and in excellent
condition.  Returning to their vessel they  coasted
to the westward, to proceed directly to the extreme
limit of the discoveries of the preceding year, so
to lose no time on the twelfth they turned towards
Chouacoet, and reached the river on the twenty-first.
Lescarbot gives some details of this nine days voyage.
They were four days in reaching Penobscot Bay, having
stopped en route to repair their little craft. Passing through
the Fox Islands they reached the mouth of the Kennebec,
where they were again in peril on account of the "great
" currents which are peculiar to the place." It would appear
also, from Lescarbot, that the party landed at Cape Elizabeth before reaching Saco, but upon this point there is
some doubt.   Champlain  adds that the Indians at
Chouacoet had finished their harvest, and that he did not
fail to taste the grapes on the island of Bacchus, which
were ripe and quite good. From this point they made Cape
Ann, and so to the southward; but the voyage was without
fruit. In a conflict'with the natives they, lost several of
their company. On the 28th of October they set sail from
Malabarre for the Isle Haute. On the thirty-first, between
Mount Desert and the Mouth of the Machias, they lost
their rudder and were in imminent peril. With much
ingenuity they succeeded in reaching a harbor, but not
until the 14th of November, after many dangers and
disasters did they reach Port Royal. Of their enthusiastic reception, the feasting and masquerading which
followed, the long winter enlivened by Lescarbot's wit, and
the bonhommie of their versatile and vivacious nation, our
34




266           CHAMPLAIN'S EXPLORATIONS
limits will not permit us to give any description. For the
purpose of this hasty investigation we have nothing to do
with the future of the colony.
I fancy that few who have read the simple narrative in
Champlain's words, or who have followed this very
imperfect abridgement of it, can fail to see its important
bearing on the history of our State. So far as I know, the
three voyages are the first thoroughly intelligible contribution to the cartography of Maine.
That the work was done by a gentleman of such energy,
patience, and accuracy, must be to us a matter of constant
satisfaction. His monument is here, as well as on the
banks of the majestic St. Lawrence, and his memory will
be preserved in the great landmarks on our coast which
bear the names he gave them two hundred and seventy
years ago, as well as in the great lake he discovered, and
which bears his name, or the quaint town which he founded
on the heights of Quebec, and which to this day has the
sight and sound and savor of that older time, a gift, as it
were, of one of its family jewels from the Old France to
the New.




ARTICLE       XVI.
NOW AND THEN.
BY THE LATE
WILLIAM ALLEN, ESQ.,
OF NORRIDGEWOCK.
READ AT THE WINTER SESSION, AUGUSTA, JAN., 1868.








NOW AND THEN.
ALTHOUGH I make no pretention to the honor of being
that "Oldest Inhabitant" who is presumed to know
everything about the weather, and when the coldest days
happened, or the deepest snows or greatest floods; still,
in compliance with the request of a worthy member of the
Maine Historical Society, I will attempt to describe some
of the events I have witnessed, and changes which have
occurred within eighty years past, or within the period of
my recollection, not particularly described in official
documents and statistical accounts, which from time to
time have been published, and made accessible to every
one.
It may be seen by the census that the population of
Maine increased more than tenfold from 1784 to 1860,
being 56,321 at the former period, and 583,026 at the
latter. I will state, in general terms, that in my opinion
the comforts and conveniences of life, and condition of the
country, have increased in the same rate in many things
not included in official reports.
Money, as a circulating medium, has increased immensely
within my recollection. The improved value of our
household furniture and accommodations, of farming tools
and implements of husbandry, of food and clothing and
other things not taxable, can readily be perceived by all
who are now living who were of age to take notice of




270                NOW AND THEN.
things eighty years ago; as also great improvements in
our dwelling houses and other buildings, in the cultivation
of lands, the construction of fences, in the state of the
roads and facilities of inter-communication. The appearance and value of stock on our farms have been greatly
improved.
Public schools and institutions of learning have been
established by which every child in the state, capable of
learning, may obtain a good education, and scarce a child
of a dozen years old and upwards can be found among our
native inhabitants who cannot read and write, where
ignorance and vice once prevailed; and the moral and
intellectual condition of our people has been improved,
and intemperance, the source of crime and wretchedness,
has been much abated.
The facility of transporting the mail has been brought
under the power of steam, and the telegraph and the press
convey intelligence with the rapidity of lightning in all
directions. Political opponents treat each other with
courtesy and civility in the free states, compared with the
time when Burr killed Hamilton in a duel, and when Jay
was reviled for framing a commercial treaty with Great
Britain which proved highly advantageous to us as a
nation, and was called a traitor and kingbird in public
papers, and was publicly accused of being bribed by
British gold, and some dared even to accuse Washington
with corruption for presuming to ratify the treaty. When
it was ascertained that the treaty was ratified, being at a
seaport in Massachusetts, I heard a distinguished sea
captain, of reputable standing in the community, denounce
Washington publicly in bitter terms, and wish, in the spirit
of Booth, "that a ball had been put through his heart before
"he signed the treaty;" and this avowal gave him public
office and a seat in the legislature by his political friends.
To sustain my general statements I will state a few
incidents in corroboration:




NOW AND THEN.               271
At a public town meeting in Norridgewock, holden
August 20, 1788, a petition for an abatement of taxes was
adopted and signed by the selectmen, in which it is stated
that "it is found, on the strictest inquiry, that there is not
"seven dollars in money, comprehending every farthing in
"the town of Norridgewock, neither do the inhabitants of
"this place, considered at large, eat bread in their families
"more than three-quarters of the year. It is not uncommon
"to find a whole neighborhood without a cow, and there
"never was a piece of fulled cloth made in Norridgewock."
There were then seventy-nine families in town, or over
four hundred inhabitants. The greater part had lived there
twelve or fifteen years.
Boys often suffered for food and clothing. Their clothes
were usually made of waled cloth, taken from the loom.
They wore trowsers without any flannel. I wore no flannel
during my minority, and suffered with the cold when I
went out in a cold wind, when trowsers were worn thin.
A woman died in this town not long after the above date,
leaving a family rather destitute, and I was credibly
informed that her father, who was a pious man, prayed in
the hearing of several, at his family devotions, "that his
"motherless grandchildren might be fed by his Heavenly
"Father, and that they might be clothed in good all-wool
"gray, such as Tarbell's boys had."
As late as the close of the last century there was often
much suffering for want of food and clothing in many
places. New settlers raised corn at first in all places, and
lived on it two or three years, till they could get the land
in condition to raise wheat. In many towns the soil would
not produce a crop of wheat, and children lived on hasty
pudding; and when the corn was cut off by frost they
lived on beans. It was "bean porridge hot and bean
"porridge cold" with them, with little else. Laboring
men sometimes had to make "a dinner of herbs," boiled
greens in June, green peas in July, green corn and new




272                NOW AND THEN.
potatoes in August, till the harvest came off. I knew how
to live on cheap fare when I was young, when skimmed
milk brought three miles to eat with hominy for a meal,
seemed a luxury.
In 1799 I heard Rev. Paul Coffin, minister of Buxton,
who had travelled extensively as a missionary, and seen
some suffering in new places, say, that there were more
cases then of destitution in some of the old towns near the
centre of York County, than he had seen or heard of in the
new towns; that the people of these towns raised but
little on their lands besides corn, which constituted their
principal article of food; that children often suffered for
want of suitable food, especially those who had intemperate
parents, who laid out more of their earnings for rum than
they did for necessaries for their families; that the children
were brought up in ignorance and could neither read nor
write when they came of age; that these men would get out
a few staves and carry to market, and come home with a
jug of rum, and do nothing till it was gone.
I knew a large family about that time living near Farmington which lived mostly on potatoes, and the mother
often said that if they only had bread enough she would
never complain of her living if they had nothing else. The
early settlers endured much hardship, and had many
fatiguing jaunts on foot to carry their corn to mill, going
five, ten, and at one time thirty miles to mill with a bushel
of corn on their shoulders. Boys of fourteen had to carry
half a bushel. I often went five miles to mill, and once,
when the water failed at that mill, went ten miles to another
mill with my back load of corn, rather than go home
without meal, and live a week without bread.
I several times went to Hallowell, forty miles, on foot,
and once to North Yarmouth, eighty miles, with a heavy
pack.
I became well acquainted with Benjamin Fairbanks, and
also with several others of the first settlers in Winthrop,




NOW AND THEN.               273
who, when the post route from Boston came no farther
than Portland, informed me that they formed an association
consisting of twenty-six members, who alternately went to
Portland once a fortnight to carry their letters and to get
the mail. There was no road then east of North Yarmouth.
They went by way of Lewiston and Durham on foot, and
in the winter time on snow-shoes. Mr. Fairbanks said that
he went on snow-shoes when the snow was deep and dry,
and that he had to carry a hatchet and blanket so as to
camp by the way when he could not reach a settler's house
on the Androscoggin.
The settlement in Winthrop was made by men who came
from Middleborough, and others from the old colony
mostly, who were enterprising and made early provision for
schools. Things are different with us now.
Now, all are supplied with wholesome food, and many in
every place enjoy the comforts and luxuries of life, and
money in abundance is in circulation. In 1788, the money
in the town of Norridgewock was less than two cents to
each individual; now, by the valuation, there is $240 pe'
capita. A cash tax of more than thirteen thousand dollars
was raised and promptly paid the last year. I saw one
farmer pay the collector a hundred dollars within ten days
after it was assessed, and three or four months before the
tax became due, without any premium or discount, and the
balance of his tax, twenty-two dollars, was paid promptly.
In 1864-5, this town obtained loans to pay soldiers' bounties, to the amount of over twenty thousand dollars, within
the limits of the town at six per cent. The town, however,
mourns the loss of forty-two young men, the most of them
unmarried, in the war of the late rebellion, which must
have a depressing effect on the prosperity of the town for a
generation to come, by depriving widows of their husbands
and others of their prospects of husbands.
But little attention was paid to schools or religious instruction by the towns in Maine at their first settlement,
35




274                NOW AND THEN.
except a few on the seaboard and now and then in favored
towns in the interior.
The school-master is now abroad and found in every
place in the State, and in no portion of the globe are children and youth better instructed than ours have been since
Maine became a state, and it is in evidence that her scholars are in demand in all the free states of the Union for
teachers and judicial and other officers, and that Maine has
within a few years furnished even Massachusetts, her
mother, with a Governor, * a graduate of one of our colleges,
a young man who discharged his trust with ability, and
presidents of a number of colleges, judges of the highest
courts, senators and representatives of distinguished ability for many of our states, and that our own delegations in
Congress are not surpassed in learning or intelligence by
those of any other state, and that if a mistake in polling
had not prevailed at the time of our last presidential
nomination, a Maine man, whose right it was to be put in
nomination with the lamented Lincoln, would now have
been an occupant of the highest seat in the nation, whose
policy would have accorded with that of the people and he
would have been an honor to the nation.
Intemperance, which overspread our land like an increasing flood till within forty years, has, by the efforts of
temperance societies, the Maine Law, and the vigilance of
good men, been much abated where formerly all drank,
and some drank to excess.
I had no personal knowledge of men or things in Maine,
until I came from Martha's Vineyard in my father's family
and settled in a forest in the extreme limits of the territory,
(which was afterwards included within the town of
Farmington,) in September 1792. We came by water to
Bath, where we made a short stop. I went to the schoolhouse, where some twenty good looking boys were at play
* Governor Andrew.




NOW AND THEN.               275
as the master "had not come." Soon the word was passed
"the master has come," and all went into school
immediately, in an orderly manner. The master* was lame
in both feet and went on crutches, and I was told that he
was a good instructor, followed teaching as a profession;
and that the town, from the time of its incorporation,
had sustained a school.
We wished to see Hon. Dummer Sewall, and were told
that he was the principal dignitary of the place, was the
Justice of the town, Colonel of the Militia, State Senator,
and a land proprietor. We wanted some information
about his land at Sandy River. I went with my father and
saw him. We were told that Mr. King, who had a partner
in Boston, did more business than all others in the place.
He had a ship in the Liverpool trade which had just
arrived, and the men were discharging a cargo of salt,
some for fishermen along the coast into fishing smacks,
some into the store for the country trade, and the balance
into a coaster, to send to Boston, with a tide waiter, or
naval officer on board taking an account of the quantity.
There were a few stores and not many dwelling houses in
the place, and but little was doing. A few small vessels
belonged to the place employed as coasters carrying lumber
to Boston, and in West India voyages in the winter season.
There was no meeting house in the town. When the tide
favored they went to Arrowsic (Georgetown?) to meeting.
We came up the river by water to the narrows at the
head of Swan Island. I then, with part of the family,
came up to Hallowell on horseback, the most of the way
by a very rough road or path, from which other paths
diverged, with no guideboards, so that we found it
necessary to procure a guide to show us when or where to
turn down to the ferry. We passed but few dwellings
after we left Pownalborough, crossed the Worromontogus
* Master George.




276                NOW AND THEN.
stream on a long, gridiron bridge, and crossed the river at
Hallowell in a ferry-boat, swimming the horse by the side
of the boat.
There were then about a dozen houses in the village of
Hallowell, and three or four places where goods were sold.
Isaac Clark was the inn holder; he had a two story house,
and there, was a large house called the Dutton house, the
inside unfinished, in which a family lived. I lodged there
ten years afterwards, when the lower rooms were finished,
but the chambers were partitioned off with rough boards,
and the floors rough and not nailed down. New settlers
in the country all lived in log houses at first five to ten
years, until they were able to commence building a framed
house, and could procure boards, and they usually moved
in as soon as the outside and a single room inside were
finished, and lived in it in that condition sometimes for
years, not so comfortably as in a log house, the seams of
which could be stopped on the outside with clay, and caulked
on the inside with moss; then with a large fire the house
could be kept warm night and day. Boys on a straw bed
spread on the chamber floor over the fireplace in the attic
of a log house could sleep as warm as need be. I know it
to be so, but often suffered with cold in a large, unfinished
house afterwards.
There was no painted house in the village to be seen in
1792, no meeting house or other public building. Moses
Sewall kept a few goods to sell in a room at the end of his
house next to the street, and Rowland Smith kept a small
assortment of goods in a little building opposite Clark's
tavern, afterwards used as a hatter's shop.
On the 26th of September, 1792, we arrived at Sandy
River, at the township, which in 1794 was incorporated
into the town of Farmington. There were then eightyseven families in the place; all but seven lived in log
houses, and it had been inhabited by some of them eleven
years. The lands in this town were more productive than




NOW AND THEN.                277
in other places, especially the large intervales which lined
the Sandy River in a circuit through the whole length and
across the lower end of the township.
The first settlers were energetic and industrious, and
suffered less for want of food than in other places.
Lemuel Perham, a surveyor and schoolmaster, was an
early settler, and taught school during a short period in
the winters in the central part of the settlement till the
town was incorporated, and some times afterwards for
many years.
The pioneers, as in other places, depended at first wholly
on corn from which to make their bread, and the want of
roads and teams, and the want of mills caused much
fatigue and hardship as in other places.
I lived in the place of our first settlement, on a poor lot
of land five years, then spent one winter in Massachusetts,
then the greater part of the time at a new place adjoining
Farmington, now Industry, fifteen years, in which time I
was in Farmington three winters, in North Yarmouth one,
New Sharon one, Winthrop two, in Hallowell more than
two years, from 1802 to last of 1804. I have been over
the stage route from Kittery to Schoodic; from the
Atlantic by the Kennebec to near its source; explored the
Sandy River from its mouth to near its source, and a long
section of the Androscoggin, and have seen no land so
extensively productive as the whole extent of Farmington,
no place which has been so much improved as that of
Farmington village. When I first saw the plat on which
it is built it was covered with spruce and hemlock trees;
a few acres had been felled along the margin and had been
burnt over, and the black logs laid on the ground; the fire
had run through the standing trees as far as could be seen,
and they were burnt black to their tops, and a more
forbidding prospect could not be imagined. It is now the
pleasantest village in the state, containing a hundred neatly
painted and finished dwellings, a court house and other




278                NOW AND THEN.
county buildings, an elegant, large edifice for the State
Normal School, three brick churches, a bank, a printing
office, lawyer's office, stores and shops, three schoolhouses,
and numerous other buildings; with the affairs of the
place controled by a vigilant incorporated " Village
"Corporation."
The village of Hallowell began to be built up soon after
I first saw it in 1792. Charles Vaughan, Esq., an English
gentleman of property, being interested with his father's
other heirs in a large tract of land in which they had a
hereditary title, situate in Hallowell, having explored the
same, formed a high opinion of the soil and situation, and
the scenery on the Kennebec, and having married an
amiable and accomplished lady in Boston, Miss Apthorp,
belonging to one of the first families, a sister of John T.
Apthorp, Esq., several years state treasurer, determined
to settle at Hallowell, and to do all in his power to build up
the place. He bargained for four townships of eastern
lands, accepted the agency of the Plymouth Company's
lands, made extensive preparations, and in 1793 established
his residence in that place.
His brother, Hon. Benjamin Vaughan, who was considered the head of the family, who had been a member of
parliament, who in opinion agreed with William Pitt, and
whose sympathy was with us in our struggle for independence, who had formed a friendly acquaintance with
Franklin while he was our minister in France, and had
formed a high opinion of the character of Washington,
after the adoption of our constitution, and the establishment
of our government on a firm basis, determined to leave
his native land, renounce his allegiance to royalty, and join
his brother Charles and settle in a free country, on their
family estate in Hallowell, on "the beautiful banks of the
"Kennebec," as soon as his brother could prepare a
suitable place for his residence. These facts being known,
excited high expectations throughout the country, even to




NOW AND THEN.               279
the extreme settlements on Sandy River, where operations
were commenced in 1793. Men of influence from the best
towns far and near, ship-builders, ship-owners, merchants
and traders, men of all professions, skillful mechanics and
industrious workmen in throngs came to the place, some to
erect buildings and to engage in trade and navigation, and
some to find employment. The place increased rapidly in
wealth and in numbers, and in the state and condition of
society. Rev. Mr. Gillet, a worthy minister, was settled by
the town, and a large meeting-house commenced in 1794,
and completed in 1795. An academy was incorporated
and put in operation.
Mr. Vaughan built an elegant house for his brother on
the elevated situation at the lower end of the village
commanding an extensive view of the river and the
surrounding country above and below the village, which
the Doctor, his brother, when he came over in 1795, took
possession of and occupied as long as he lived, to an advanced
age. Mr. Vaughan also built a house at the Hook for his
friend, Captain John Sheppard, a skillful English navigator,
which was occupied by him and his family, it was supposed
without rent, many years. Mr. Vaughan built the wharf at
the Hook, and a store and warehouses, and a brewery,
with the hope that beer might be used instead of ardent
spirits, and improve the habits of the intemperate, but
failed to accomplish his object. He employed a great
number of men, built the large flour mill on the small
stream at the Hook, which, too late, he found too small to
carry the mill, and the cost of building the mill was lost.
He built workshops and dwelling houses for the accommodation of his workmen, built a house and barn and put in
order a farm for his homestead, a pleasant situation half a
mile back, cleared up a large farm two miles back from the
river, stocked it with the best breeds of animals, importing
some from England, which were highly recommended in
English publications, with drawings and engravings showing




280                NOW AND THEN.
the form, size and color of those best for draught or for
the dairy; took pleasure in showing the drawings to
farmers and others who called on him, and in describing
the good qualities of animals kept for breeders, tendering
their progeny to farmers at cost, and the use of animals
gratis; procured a skillful English farmer to take the
oversight of his farm, Samuel Stantial, who planted an
orchard of choice fruit, made a fine garden, and kept
everything in the neatest order, exceeding anything I had
ever seen before, when I with a party visited the place in
June, 1807. His English cherry trees just beginning to
bear looked beautifully. We saw a large box of scions
which the day before had been received, after two months'
passage from Liverpool, which had been put up in a
careful manner for grafting. It was late in the season for
grafts to be set, and some had sprouted, but he thought
his gardener would save them.
Mr. Vaughan spared no expense or pains during more
than twenty years to promote the agricultural interest of
the county, did more than any other individual, before any
agricultural society was formed in the state, to improve the
breed of stock and swine, and to furnish scions to improve
our orchards.  The farmers, not only in Hallowell,
Winthrop and Readfield were greatly benefited by his
efforts, but some at a distance of fifty miles, where I have
seen the best stock and swine, and the best apples to be
found in the state, as the result of his efforts. When the
Somerset Agricultural Society was formed he sent me two
thousand scions, put in nice order by his gardener, for
gratuitous distribution, with information where we might
procure the progeny of his best animals without any extra
charge for the price. Our society availed itself of the
advice, and defrayed the expense of procuring one animal
for the benefit of farmers of the county. In these efforts
he enjoyed himself, and was successful. He employed two




NOW AND THEN.                281
hands on his homestead and made it productive; a younger
brother of mine lived with him a year in 1803-4.
He built a wharf at Jones's Eddy, near the mouth of the
river, where he erected a store and warehouses, with the
expectation of the place being made a port of entry to
facilitate the course of trade up the river, but did not
succeed as he expected, and his investments proved a total
loss. He derived, as before stated, no benefit from his
flour mill or brewery at the Hook, and his large outlays
exhausted his funds. His lands in Somerset and Penobscot did not increase in value as he had expected, and
after seven years' experimenting he had to abandon all his
projected schemes for promoting the prosperity of the
village, and to assign to his brother, who had made
advances to him, all the buildings he had erected, (except
on his homestead,) also his interest in the Stantial farm;
to give up some of his contracts for state lands, assign his
interest in all to others. He then devoted his. whole
attention to farming, as I have stated, and died at the age
of seventy-two.
Mr. Vaughan was a man of ardent temperament, of a
benevolent disposition, enthusiastic in projecting schemes
of improvement, a good citizen, true to his engagements
while his funds lasted, and no workman ever failed to get
his wages promptly. He was strict to require the fulfilment of all contracts.
Hon. Benjamin Vaughan, familiarly called Doctor, was
a gentleman of mild deportment, unassuming in his
manners, well educated, of a sound mind, well skilled in
medical science. Our best physicians had full confidence in
his sagacity, as one stated, in determining the nature of a
disease, and was always esteemed judicious in prescribing
a remedy. He manifested an interest in the welfare of
every one, paid kind attention to all cases in the village
which required medical attention without fee or reward.
36




282                NOW AMD THEN.
Being the oldest son he inherited an estate sufficient for
his support, and was able to assist his friends without
engaging in any business. He had the largest private
library I ever saw, and spent his time in study and acts of
charity. A sister came over with him, lived in his family,
and married John Merrick, Esq., an English gentleman of
a finished education, who had studied divinity, and stopped
a year or two in Boston and preached in one of the Boston
churches; then married Miss Vaughan and settled near
her brothers in Hallowell. These three families, by their
kind and polite deportment, made themselves accessible to
every one, and soon gave a tone to the manners of the
place. Mr. Merrick became a useful member of society,
took a lively interest in everything which was for the
benefit of the place; always had a pleasant word for the
boys in the street as he passed them, which gratified them.
He saw a small boy one day kicking his kite because it
would not sail, said to him "that is not right, you ought to
"be kicked for not fixing it right," took the kite and placed
the strings properly, and the boy went off pleased with
kite flying. By this course all the boys were seen to
respect him and try to imitate him in his civility and
politeness.  He treated the laborer or mechanic with
familiarity.  When one was carting a load of dressing,
which was composed partly of chips and dirt, to his
cornfield, he said to him, "What! do you plant chips?"
When passing me when I had on a coat cut according to
the cloth, an inch or more shorter than common, he says
"What a bobtail coat you have!" He could discuss a
philosophical question with all the shrewdness of a
professor; was a musician, could play on any instrument;
none could excel him on a violin, or in sailing a boat.
After he became acquainted with town affairs he was
chosen selectman and town agent and was a useful officer;
also cashier of the bank. He often called, and sometimes




NOW AND HIEN.                283
spent a night with me. He lived till he was ninety-six years
old. Not long before he died I received an admonition
from him to be careful and not expose myself to a fall, as
all his aged friends came to their death by a fall.
After the Vaughans and Mr. Merrick settled in Hallowell
the business of the place increased rapidly until the war
of 1812, which checked all improvement. At the close of
the last century, and during the first ten years of this, no
place in the state contained a larger proportion of intelligent citizens. Her merchants, traders and mechanics
were men of integrity, and had the confidence of all who
dealt with them. It was stated that more business was
done here than in any other place east of Portland, and
more than in all other places on the Kennebec. Large
quantities of lumber were brought down by water and
much by land from Belgrade, Monmouth, and the intervening towns, then purchased and shipped to Boston and
other places by coasters, and some to the West Indies and
some to Europe. I was a clerk in a store in 1805, and
paid B. Brown, of Vassalboro, a thousand dollars to
complete a cargo of a ship bound to Ireland, purchased
under the inspection of an agent sent out, consisting
partly of oak ton timber for Catholics to have sawed up
with whip-saws to make coffins of. A superstition prevailed then that nothing was suitable for a coffin but oak.
Large quantities of corn and pork were brought in from
the country, especially from the whole length of the Sandy
River valley and from the settlements on the Androscoggin,
paid for in goods, and sold to fishermen and others from
down river and along the coast, which was carried away in
boats and small vessels in the spring. The streets were
often filled with teams during the winters, and with horses
in the summer, and ox-teams with boards. But few
English or fancy goods were then kept in Gardiner, and
Hallowell had some good customers from that place, and




284                NOW AND THEN.
some from Augusta and other places up the river, and from
nearly all the upper settlements on Sandy River. Her
merchants were much respected.
From 1795 to 1810 Rev. E. Gillet, as has been said, was
the pastor; Samuel Moody, an efficient and successful
teacher, was preceptor at first, and then William Kinney.
John Sewall, Esq., a worthy man, was school-master, town
clerk, and sometimes representative. Samuel S. Wilde was
first a distinguished lawyer and advocate, a good citizen,
then Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts,
esteemed and honored. Nathaniel Porley was a well
educated lawyer whose wit was sarcastic; his wife was a
sister of Judge Dummer, a benevolent, pious lady. Mr.
Wilde's wife was a daughter of General Cobb of Revolutionary fame. Thomas Bond was an honest lawyer, and
capable; afterwards state senator. Nathaniel Dummer
was ship-owner, merchant, Judge of Court of Common
Pleas, and an executive counsellor. Jeremiah Dummer
was merchant and cashier of the bank. N. Dummer and
John O. Page, presidents of the bank. John O. Page was
ship-owner and merchant. William H. Page a fancy goods
trader who always had articles to please the ladies.
Nathan Moody and David Moody were merchants of the
first class, as were Nathan Batchelder and Edward Emerson,
Percy Mann, Benjamin Dearborn, Increase Page, and
Nathaniel Cheever, who was afterwards editor of the
American Advocate. A paper called the Tocsin was published for some time during the French Revolution in 1793
by Thomas B. Wait, Howard S. Robinson, and John K.
Baker. Thomas, John, and David Agry were ship-masters,
the first two merchants of the first class. Thomas Fillebrown, master of a coaster and trader, also William Pool
and Abner Lowell. David Sewall, Esq., was the justice
and trader. John Arnold ship-owner and trader, and
Philip Robinson, Daniel Smith, William Morse, and
Chandler Bobbins, Esq., were traders. James Gow, a




NOW AND THEN.                285
tailor from London, and a good man, and Elias Bond, a
hatter, were deacons. Nathaniel Tilton was tavern keeper
and deputy sheriff. Nathaniel Brown was baker and made
good bread. Benjamin Davenport was hatter and made
good hats. James Child a tailor made coats to fit lawyers
and others. John Beman and Samuel Smith were tanners.
Daniel Heard and others were shoemakers. Ebenezer
Dole was silversmith, Mulliken, watchmaker. William
Stickney was tobacconist, Abner Davenport, tallow
chandler.
It was my good fortune to reside in Hallowell more than
two years during the time of its greatest prosperity, when
its reputation for integrity and veracity, good habits,
intelligence, industry and civility was of a higher grade
than in any other place within my knowledge; and while
I give Farmington the credit of being the pleasantest
village in the state, in other respects Hallowell, while I
lived there, had the preferences, and I left the place with
some regret.
The prosperity of Hallowell received a severe check by
the embargo of 1808, and the war of 1812. The adjoining
places, after the war, took a start and have outstripped
her and left her in the background. The worthy men of
1807 who were then in active life have all died and left but
few descendants to take their place. The lower strip,
which originally was ten miles square, has been bisected
and dissected, and now constitutes one city and three towns.
The part which retains the original name, and now a city,
contains in territory but about ten square miles instead of
ten miles square, or but one-tenth part of the original
territory. After leaving Industry, in 1813, I came to
Norridgewock, where I have since lived, but have spent
three winters in Portland, one winter and one summer in
Augusta. During the last fifty-three years I have had full
opportunity to form an opinion, and can say with confidence, that, except at the time of prosperity in Hallowell,




286                NOW AND THEN.
in the matter of good breeding Norridgewock excels all
other places where I have ever been. The quiet and
stillness of the village is noticed by all who visit the place.
The moral character of the inhabitants and their habits
are generally good, with but few exceptions.
Charles Vaughan, Esq., left a son, John Apthorp
Vaughan, who was a fine scholar and an estimable man,
whose features resembled his mother's, and his mild
disposition also. He, some years after he graduated,
established a school for young ladies near the centre of the
village of Hallowell, which he taught with approbation and
good success for several years. Being in the place on
business, he took me in to see his school; the school-room
was in the neatest condition, and furnished with all
necessary books and apparatus, and was conducted in an
admirable manner. Being an Episcopalian he took orders
in the church when he left his school and was settled in
Philadelphia, and died there recently. Mr. Vaughan had
a daughter of like amiable manners, who married Jacob
Abbott the well known author, residing in New York, and
died in the meridian of her life and usefulness.
I could say much in commemoration of the memory of
deceased friends who kindly aided me along in the journey
of life, but I forbear.
WILLIAM ALLEN.
GET. 86 YES. 8 MOS.
NORRIDGEWOCK, DEC. 17, 1866.
[When I came to Maine the county of Lincoln extended
from the Atlantic to Canada, and all the county officers,
except one in Woolwich and the Judge of the Supreme
Court, resided at Pownalborough where the courts were
holden. Justices of the Peace, (not as now,) were few and




'NoW AND THEN.               287
far between. William  Brookson, successor to James
Howard, for a long time the only Justice above the shire
town, married his widow and sueceeded him as Justice at
Cushnock. Jeremiah Fairfield was the Justice for Winslow,
and next to him was Oliver Wood of Norridgewock, whose
jurisdiction extended to the upper settlements, thirty
miles. Robert Page was Justice at Readfield, and next to
him was Moses Starling at Sandy River, near thirty miles
distant. And so of other places.]




STATISTICS OF NORRIDGEWOCK.
COMMUNICATED BY WILLIAM ALLEN, ESQ., WITH THE FOREGOING PAPER.
By the records and census of the town of Norridgewock it appears
that from the incorporation of the town in 1788 to 1838, a period of
fifty years, the number of births to each married couple average
seven.
Charles Pierce and wife had fifteen children; one other couple
had fourteen; two others had thirteen each; two others had
twelve each; three others had eleven each; eight others had ten
each; eight others had nine each; twelve others had eight each;
eighteen others had seven each; eleven others had six each; nine
others had five each; five others had four each; one other had
three; two others had two each; one other had one only. Average
seven to each couple.
From 1838 to 1860 parents over forty-five years:
One couple had ten children; four couples had nine each; four
couples had eight each; four couples had seven each; twelve
couples had six each; twenty-eight couples had five each; twenty
couples had four each; seventeen couples had three each; sixteen
couples had two each; nine couples had but one each; four couples
had none. Average five or less.
I have had the records in my custody a long time, but may not be
perfectly correct, and say, errors excepted.
The census of 1840 gave us 1865; of 1850 gave us 1848; of 1860
gave us 1900.
In 1849 the number of deaths was twenty-one, or one to eightyeight, average age thirty-seven. In 1850, number of deaths,




STATISTICS OF NORRIDGEWOCK.             289
seventeen adults and three children, total twenty, being one to
ninety-two of the inhabitants, average age forty-eight years. In
1851, number of deaths, twelve adults and five children, total
seventeen, being one to one hundred and nine, average age
thirty-two years. In 1852, number eighteen, one to one hundred,
average age sixty-three years, nine over seventy, six over twenty
and under seventy, three under twenty years. In 1853, whole
number twenty-seven, one to sixty-eight and one-half, average age
forty-five and one-fourth years; in 1854, whole number thirty-two,
one to fifty-eight, average age forty-one years; in 1855, whole
number fourteen, one to one hundred and thirty-two, average age
forty years; in 1856, whole number fifteen, one to one hundred and
twenty-six, average age fifty and two-thirds years; in 1857, whole
number twenty-eight, one to sixty-five, average age thirty-eight
years; in 1858, whole number thirty-three, one to fifty-seven,
average age thirty-three years; in 1859, whole number thirty-two,
one to fifty-eight, average age fifty-five years; in 1860, whole number twenty, one to ninety-four, average age thirty-two years; in
1861, whole number twenty-two, one to ninety-one, average age
thirty-two; in 1862, whole number fifty, one to thirty-eight, average
age thirty, (diphtheria;) in 1863, whole number thirty-two, one to
fifty-eight, average age thirty years; in 1864, whole number twentyeight, one to sixty-five, average age twenty-eight years; in 1865,
whole number twenty-one, one to sixty-one, average age forty-nine
years; in 1866, whole nnmber twenty-two, one to eighty-six, average
age forty-three years; in 1867, whole number twenty-six, one to
eighty, average age forty-three years.
Errors excepted.
WILLIAM ALLEN.
NORRIDGEWOCK, FFB. 18, 1868.
37








ARTICLE XVII.
POPHAM'S TOWN
OF
FORT ST, GEORGE.
3Y RUFUS K. SEWVALL, ESQ.,
OF WISCASSET.








K/A M-AP R a(TUNLME
\\. s  i  F _..~o,,  _
ANCIENT PEMAQUID KINGDOM
-  INCLU.INC- --
A///' ^MUSCON GU S     SAGAIDAHOC.
BAI?
q (k S  /    MUSCONGoUS I.
L-,. ----------------  "4,'4.ATLANTIC
SEGUIN                                   MONHEAN
I I ~ ~ ~ ~   ~    ~   ~    ~   L A o








POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
ANTECEDENTS.
IN May, 1605, following the track of the Concord, Gosnold,
master, of 1602, the Archangel, Weymouth commander,
being forced by embaying shoals and a most uncertain
ground to stand off from Cape Cod in the midst of a gale
of wind and raging sea, at evening twilight descried land.
It appeared a "highland of the main in the N. N. East,"
but proved to be an island midway between the 43~ and
44~ north latitude, on the coast of Maine,-known to the
French as E. mmetinic,* (and contracted to "Pe'mquit"
and in English hardened into Pemaquid,) and thereafter
applied to the nearest mainland, which, projecting five or
six miles toward it into the open sea, forms a narrow coneshaped peninsula. At its base winds a short, navigable
river, whose waters are curved into a beautiful and deep
harbor basin, as they pour into the sea by a passage not
more than one hundred and fifty feet wide and many
fathoms deep. Entering here, five of the natives of
Pemaquid were captured, one of whom was a chief, and
taken to England in the Archangel. Before this "Pem* " Capn. Plaistrier de Honfleur cy devant nommie voulant aller
" Kenibequd, il fuit saisy prisonir pour deux navires anglays, qui
"estoimet en un isle appelled E. mmetinic 8 liieurs du dit Keni"beque."




294      POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
"aquid" had become known in the maritime transactions
of Europe; and on the highest historical authority it is
alleged that the discovery* of Pemaquid and the capture
of its inhabitants form the initial period of New England
colonization.
April 10, A. D. 1606, organized movements of the
English race for actual possession of the continent of the
new world in New England, in the right of that race, began
to take legal form; and in 1607 the great commercial
centers of England, Bristol and London equiped three
vessels, the Gift of God and her tender, a fly-boat, and
the Mary and John of London, and embarked an hundred
and twenty subjects of "Great Britain," who were sent to
execute the movements so organized; in the prosecution
of which the colonial fleet reached the coast of Maine in
safety; and made a landing in latitude 43~ 44' north, at
"Sagadahoc." Covering the Sagadahoc end of this expedition there has been an over-hanging cloud of uncertainty,
shading the transactions, and leaving in doubt the fate of
one of the leading vessels of the expedition; and the
number and relations of the returning colonists; and the
actual facts as to the result of the movement.  The
confusion is a natural incident to cross purposes and
divided counsel of changed administration, or of partisan
policy in the succession of a subordinate to authority.
The movements of the ship of the Popham command,
the flag-ship of the expedition and her tender, after the
Mary and John reached anchorage by her side at the site
chosen for settlement; or their mission further; or their
fate beyond the landing of the Sagadahoc emigration, have
never been satisfactorily traced.
A series of facts exist however, in isolation, whose
aggregation, in natural order, under logical relations, will
* Thornton's Ancient Pemaquid, Vol. V., M. H. Soc. Coll., p.
157.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.    295
throw clear and concentrated light into these beginnings
of New England homes and history.
COAST PECULIARITIES.
The coasts of Maine for a degree and a half of latitude
between 43- 30' and 45~, have ever been remarkable, as
well for physical features of sea and shore, as for historic
nomenclature of aboriginal origin, wafted from antecolonial periods.
Pemaquid, Sagadahoc and Muscongus are all names of
remote antiquity, of native origin and import, designating
contiguous sections in the above latitudes, notable in the
beginnings of European life as points of eminent attraction,
where the earliest fluxes of European emigration were
felt. They were well known to European fishermen and
fur dealers as eligible and eminently prolific in resources
of commercial value, before the voyages of Champlain, De
Monts, Weymouth, Popham and Smith. Originally Pemaquid was styled and ranked as a "Kingdom." Muscongus
and Sagadahoc were its provinces and dependencies.
These grand old names covered the fattest fishing
grounds and fur depots of these latitudes; and were
tripartite centers of commercial industries and colonization
at the opening of the English colonial epoch.
The exclusive possession and control of these territories
were state prizes in the reign of Elizabeth of England
and of James I.; and led to desperate, protracted and
bloody contests, settled with Spain in the catastrophe of
her great Armada, by force of then aval achievements of
Drake, 1688; and with France on the heights of Abraham,
before Quebec in September, 1759, between the English
General Wolf, and Montcalm of the French.
INTERNATIONAL LAW.
The commercial treasures of Pemaquid and her dependencies, Muscongus and Sagadahoc, pertained to the




296       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
Baccalaan resources of these shores stocked with cod-fish;
and had arrested the attention and excited the cupidity of
maritime Europe, prior to A. D. 1565. "Spain and
"Portugal had grasped and divided these regions between
"themselves. The Pope made the partition by force of a
"Vatican state paper called a'bull."'
Stimulated by greed of empire, provoked at the Pope's
partiality toward Spain and Portugal, France and England
controverted the right of this partition, and determined to
get possession of that section of the new world covering
the fat fishing grounds. Rival interests quickened the
emulation of rival states.
INTERNATIONAL PROTEST.
France, by her king, Francis I., said in challenge of the
rights accruing in virtue of this partition: "Spain
"and Portugal are quietly dividing the whole country of
"America between themselves, without allowing me to
"come in for a brother's share. I would be very glad to
"see the clause in Adam's will which makes that continent
"their exclusive inheritance."
England declared, "that discovery and prescription are
"of no avail unless followed by actual possession." This
doctrine she prepared at once to enforce; and massed her
guns and marshaled her naval force, to give the effect of
international law to her common law formula,'"prescriptio
sine possessione, hazid valebaf."
England immediately reduced her legal postulate to practice, in application of the theory of her common law title
to real estate, to her trans-continental interests, in defiance
and in derogation of the assumptions of the vatican and
its legal maxims, under the Pope's vice-gerency.
INITIAL MOVEMENTS TO ACQUIRE TITLE.
In this behalf, on the tenth of April A. D. 1606, England opened contracts with her own subjects, known to




POPHA-M'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     297
the law as a "charter," whose stipulations were conditional.
It was in terms a grant, covering agreements. "We do
"grant and agree," is the language of the compact. The
tenor, in fact, was a royal license, hedged about with
prospective grants, based on conditions to be fulfilled,
adequate to the legal purposes of the government.
The transaction consisted of stipulations expressed and
implied, which were conditions precedent to future and
further concessions, to be made available to the grantees,
on petition, after the fulfillment.
The transaction was the legal and formal conception of
a valid and permanent title and possession in the new
world, covering the purpose of practical and enduring
defensible foothold of the Eiglish race upon it.
CHARTER PURPOSES.
The object of the stipulations was expressly declared to
be "Mak7ing of hlabitations, by leading out and planting
"colonies, szbjects of Great Britain."  The grantees were
termed "adventurers;" and were organized into bodies
corporate. They were required "to build and fortify"
where they should inhabit; and their colonies were to be
"of such ancd so many of the subjects of Great Britain as
"should willingly accompany " on their voyages thither. The
adventurers, by the terms of their contract with government,
were restricted to a volun-tary emigration; and this fact
negatives every hypothesis of "legal enforcement" of the
men they should lead out of England, as illegal; and
George Popham    and Rauleigh Gilbert were leading
associates and executive agents, as parties to the Royal
License of April 10, 1606.
They were allowed any place on the coast, where they
should think fit and convenient, between limitations of
latitude below the 45~ north, and required there to make
their abode and begin habitation.
38




298      POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
Permanency of possession, homestead establishment
alone, could fulfill the conditions of their undertaking.
The salient points of the contract of April 10, 1606, for
seizing and holding actual possession at or near the 44~
north latitude, are clearly made. English emigration,
domiciliation of the race, military occupancy at points fit
and convenient, in and about the above latitudes, on the
shores of the new world, were the declared purposes, both
of the English government and its grantees, the adventurers
of this charter.
Such an emigration with purposes aforesaid accomplished, insured under stipulation, that, on petition in that
behalf, George Popham, Rauleigh Gilbert, "tleir heirs and
"ssuccessors," should be endowed with plenary rights to
the fruits of their undertaking, in a crown deed or
"Letters Patent," of the country by them so seized and
occupied.
Such were the charter conditions of the voyage of
Popham and Gilbert, made in pursuance of the contracts
aforesaid.
EMBARKATION.
They set sail from west of England in the spring of the
year ensuing, (1607,) taking their departure from Plymouth
in three vessels,* one from London, and with a west of
England and London emigration combined. They landed
at Pemaquid, and debarked in latitude 43~ 44' north, at
"Sagadahoc,"-a precinct of the Pemaquid country,fortified the peninsula of Sabino,-and from thence distributed their colonists in conformity to their stipulations,
in execution of the contract of April 10, 1606, and so
as to hold the Pemaquid country,-beginning with the
erection, in August, 1607, of Popham's town of Fort St.
George.
* Gorges.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     299
LOCATION.
The out-going floods of the Androscoggin and Kennebec
Rivers and their tributaries, enter the sea by two channels,
in a single volume of water known as "Sagadahoc," meaning
"going out of waters into the sea." The Sagadahoc is the
direct and main course of the out-going waters of the
above confluents; and the by-river "Sasanoa," sometimes
called Hellgate or Hockamock, is an effluent of the same
body of waters through Sheepscot Bay, into the sea eastward. The shore of the bay intervening between the two
outlets, spreads into a beach of white sand and shells,
known, time out of mind, as "Sagadahoc beach."* The
west shore of the main channel at the sea, has been curled
by opposing tides into a peninsula, an hundred acres or
more in area, called in the earliest aboriginal days,
"Sabino," and so called when occupied by the Popham
colonists. It is a drift of sand, shells and earth, beaten in
about the roots of granite headlands, with a fresh water
lakelet, fringed with a broad, white sand beach upon the
sea front.  These interior tides rushing through the
channels of the Sagadahoc between rocky rounded islets
into the sea, and which recoil upon the shore in breaking
surf, filter through the sands, and fill the little pond of fresh
water on the beach. The mountainous and lighted cliff
tops of Seguin Island pile sheltering rocks seaward; and
mighty granite bluffs environ the rear. Here the expedition
sought a lodgement upon Weymouth's "so beneficial and
"goodly a river,'Sagadahoc.'"
ABORIGINAL IMPORTANCE.
The native wildness of the site gave it singular attractiveness, presenting a landscape of open forests, towering
pines below, and hilltops over-grown with beech and oak
* It has two mouths, tolerably large, at least two leagues distant,
the one from the other.-[Baird's Voyage to Quinibequi.




300      POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
above, and on either side a skirting of clear, grassy
margins of sand and shells, in a sweep seaward on its
northern front. It was, therefore, a favorite camping
ground, of which the indications in 1857 were most marked
and decisive. The peninsula in aboriginal grandeur, must
have been a spot of distinguished attraction to the natives.
The vestiges of aboriginal occupancy are peculiar. There
would seem to have been manufactories, arsenals of the
savage hosts of the Sagadahoc, where arrowheads, stone
axes and spears were blocked out, and hewn or broken into
shape and fitness for war or the chase.
The northern sweep of shore here has undergone a considerable change within the past quarter of a century and
more, and since it was studded with the lodges of aboriginal
artisans. When it was examined, in 1857, this margin was
broken into sand heaps, rolled and gorged by bleak winds.
Since the sheltering background of forest pines have been
cut and cleared away, and the United States' works and
fishers' cots have been put up, about the sand heaps,
chipped rocks, arrowheads, spear blades, &c., in every
stage of manufacture, and of great variety in material, have
been found,-relics suggestive of the industries of aboriginal
workmen. Also human bones, it is said, and of unusual
size, have been unearthed in the gorges of the sand hills;
but no considerable remains of edible shellfish, the refuse
of human food, here appear.
The chips, fragments, remains of stone-wrought tools
and weapons of death, and human remains, alone distinguished the site as a place of aboriginal importance. The
peninsula of Sabino must have been the scene of aboriginal
industries in the manufactures described, anterior to the
advent of European colonization, else some notice or
record would have come down to us. Indeed it was a
month and a week after the landing of the English here,
ere they met the river natives; and then, at even-tide,
voices of broken English, echoing from an opposite shore,




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FOBT ST. GEORGE.     301
startled the English ear in 1607. It turned out to be a call
of certain "salvages;" and by morning light a "canoa"
appeared; and in her a Sagamo who told the planters his
name was Sebanoa, and that he was lord of the river of
Sagadahoc. "These were stranger Indians, able men, very
"tall and strong, and such as the like before had not been
"seen."  Although the advent of the white man had
been welcomed at Pemaquid, at Sagadahoc it had
awakened'uspicion, excited fear, heralded perils. The
natives greeted the English here with ominous tales of
cannibals * living near Sagadahoc, with teeth three
inches long." The oyster deposits of Damariscotta, shell
heaps of Ped-coke-gowak, the offal remains of the populous
"Arambec," the pottery, copper ornaments and implements
among these shell heaps, and the remains of Menikuk, the
darts, bone stilettos of these neighboring Pemaquid localities east, are not found at Sagadahoc. The races were
different in character, taste and habits. The peninsula of
"'Sabino" was the seat of a more barbarous, but skillful
people, manufacturers of rude arms.
DEBARKATION.
August 17, 0. S., three sail, the Gift of God and her
tender, flag-ship of the expedition, and the Mary and John
of London, lay at anchor; the former in the haven of
Sabino in shore; and the latter outside under Seguin.
Driven about in the bay east of Seguin for two days, in
a mighty storm and a south gale which came on at midnight, nearly wrecked on a lee shore, standing off and on,
the ships had found shelter in "Cape harbor," under the
"Cuckolds," described as "two little islands, all rocky and
"full of pines, where three savages had taken refuge," and
some six miles distant from Sagadahoc. From thence,
with wind off shore and fair, the ships had run over to the
* M. Hist. Coll., Vol. ii. Folsom.




302       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
main entrance of the Sagadahoc, the morning of the
fifteenth, and entered the mouth of the Kennebec. "At the
"mouth or entry of the river," says the journal of this
voyage, "on the west side, a spot, almost an island of good
"bigness," was selected for the site of the fort and town.
The chief in command, Popham, in his pinnace with
thirty men, and his subordinate, Gilbert, in his long boat
with eighteen men, first landed and made the choice.
They were two days about it. But on the nineteenth all
went on shore. The first act of colonial inauguration was
the worship of God, in which all joined; and here religious
services were first held upon the main in New England,
in the English tongue. A sermon was preached. The
commission was then opened and read; and a code of laws
promulged. A president, as chief magistrate, was nominated; five assistants sworn in; and the civil organization was
completed. So the soil of New England then and there
was. consecrated to the use of English homes, and set
apart to the English race in a civil polity, founded in
religion and law. This being done, all returned aboard
again. The persons inducted into office were, George
Popham, president; Rauley Gilbert, admiral; Edward Harlow, master of ordinance; Robert Davis, sergeant major;
James Davis, captain of the fort; Richard Seymour,
chaplain; Elias Best, marshal; and George Carew, searcher.
An hundred and twenty persons were present to participate
in the inaugural services.
On the twentieth all again landed, and broke ground for
entrenched works. The ensuing week was consumed in
work on the fort. A store-house was erected. Digby of
London as master carpenter, laid out a ship-yard, stretched
the keel, and put up the frame of a thirty ton vessel.
These industries filled up the time of the colonists for
about four months, or to the thirteenth of December; in
which time the fort was fully finished, entrenched and
fortified. Twelve guns were mounted. Fifty houses,




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.      303
besides a church, were erected within the lines. The
colonists must have had the means of cutting boards and
plank or they could not have built their vessel; and there
is no evidence that their houses and church were mere log
cabins. An idea of the English village fashion of that age,
may be formed, perhaps, from that of the sister colony in
South Virginia, settled the same year at the mouth of
James River. A triangular fort with half-moon batteries
for artillery covered each corner. Two rows of houses of
framed timber, some two stories and a garret above, with
three large store-houses joined lengthwise, newly and
strongly empaled, made up the village outline of the sister
State of Virginia; and Popham's town was without doubt
like it. On the fifteenth of December, the "Mary and
John," Captain Davis, was dispatched to England, bearing
the first state paper written in America,-a message from
President Popham to James I., of England, announcing to
government the present success and future promise of the
state establishment. These transactions closed the year
1607.
A. D. 1608, February 5, the first great calamity occurred
in the death of their aged and good President Popham.
The naked fact of his decease at his post, is all that history
has preserved of this untoward event. Before the return
of Captain Davis with spring supplies of provisions, arms,
tools, &c., some others had died; but all things at Sagadahoc
were found then in good condition, many furs stored, the new
vessel finished, launched, and called the Jirginia. This vessel,
for years afterward, freighted between England and
Jamestown.
But Admiral Gilbert, who had succeeded President
Popham in authority, and who represented the London
interest in the new town, had determined to resign his
trust and go home to England; and his determination in
the premises seems to have influenced his co-residents at
Sagadahoc to abandon with him their town. So all of the




304      POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
Sagadahoc people embarked with him in the newly built
Virginia and the newly arrived ship, and set sail for England.
Thus was vacated the Sagadahoc settlement of this
colonial adventure. Harlow's relation is, that the experience of so "frozen a winter," and shortness of provisions,
"sent all back to England but forty-five." 
The country and rivers had been explored by the colonists
in the mean time, westward to "Richmond's Island;" and
eastward beyond Pemaquid. Courteous and friendly relations existed with the natives, especially eastward. The
Pemaquid people were free and friendly, more so than the
dwellers on the Kennebec and Androscoggin.
They visited the new English town of St. George without
distrust, projected trade, fostered interchange of courteous
civilities. The Sabbath was honored by the Pemaquid
people, who went with the colonists to the place of public
prayers and in divine service in the new-built church, they
appeared in silence, with reverence and respect. The first
landing of these colonists on the main in New England
was at Pemaquid. Here the English first slept ashore, and
made the acquaintance of the noblest chieftains of the
King of Pemaquid, (the Bashaba,) Sasanoa his brother,
Amenquin his son, with Sebanoa, lord of the river of
"Sagadahoc." The Sabbath at Sagadahoc was duly kept
to God's honor, in services, morning and evening; and,
without doubt, according to the venerable and decorous
and reverential and exact formularies of the Church of
England,-whose grand and devout and impressive worship
of the true God, here first awed the savage mind, and
touched with reverential power the savage heart. The
fear and worship of God were marked features of Popham's
administration at Sagadahoc.
It is indeed true that the above record has had a tradi* Smith's Hist. Va., Vol. iii., p. 174. Harlow's Relation and
Prince's Annals.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     305
tional or partisan coloring of details of treachery, disaster,
anarchy and wrong; and Abbott has loosely gathered,
exaggerated, embellished, and promulged these colorings
as veritable history, the only foundation for which is savage
rumor.
ENGLISH TRADITION.
A sailor reported an old Indian story, that a quarrel
ensued between the natives and settlers at Sagadahoc, in
which the Indians killed some of the English, and drove the
rest out of their fort; others, that the storehouse was
burned, in consequence of a cannon trick.
But none of these waifs of tradition are consistent with
the narratives of cotemporaneous history, and could not
have occurred prior to the reembarkation of the Gilbert
exodus from Sagadahoc, in 1608. The sailor's yarn has
been supplemented with a cannon story and powder scene,
explosions and repentance, mere local waifs of very uncertain origin.
FRENCH TRADITION.
The archives of France are disclosing more authentic
matter. Father Baird* was at Sagadahoc in February,
four years after its abandonment. He observed its strategic
relations and criticised them; and gives the following
tragic rumors current among the Armouchiquois, or
Androscoggin Indians, concerning the abandonment of
Sagadahoc. The Indians said "the English had at first
"a good man at their head, and his people treated the
"natives well."
But the river tribe of the Armouchiquois feared the
neighborhood of such strangers; and by enchantment and
magic art caused the death of their leader. Under another
leader the English changed their ways,-were rude, abusive,
* French were here soon after Popham's party left. —[Hubbard's
N. E., 37.
39




306       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE,
and ill in their conduct. The unneighborly apprehension
pressed the restless savages, impatient of the presence of
the strangers in possession of their thoroughfare to the sea,
and they resolved to "kill the cub before its teeth and
"claws had grown." The opportunity offered. The vessels of the colonists had left the fort and gone into the bay
to fish. They were three in number. The conspirators,
with savage subtlety, pretended friendship, stealthily
followed, and with unwonted friendliness approached the
unwary fishermen, and on a signal preconcerted, each
savage having picked his man, put his knife to the hated
white man's throat, and eleven were thus butchered in cold
blood. Intimidated by these atrocities, the survivors
abandoned Sagadahoc, and contented themselves next year
in summer, in coming to the island of E. mmetnic, i. e.
Pemquit or Pemaquid. Such are the traditions of 1609,
from French sources.
If true, these rumors relate to some fragment or relic of
the abandoning colony of 1608,-individuals of the Popham
emigration, who did not sail to England in the Virginia or
Mary and John with the Gilbert return,-perhaps the "forty"five" mentioned in Harlow's relation. Such a bloody
catastrophe could not possibly have escaped the record of
incidents at Sagadahoc, before and at the time of its
abandonment, made by the English historians, Gorges and
Strachey; but may have befallen any, resident at other
points, who would have more or less frequented the hamlet
at Sabino, as custodians of the property there, and to whose
fate and fortunes, we have only here and there incidental
references.
The result of the attempt of Popham and Gilbert, in
behalf of the adventures to execute the contract of 1606,
was a fortified town of fifty houses, a church and a shipyard at the seaside, where the waters of the Kennebec
enter the sea. Here was penned the first state paper, a
dispatch to the king, the thirteenth of December, 1607.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     307
Here died the venerable, respected and conscientious, Godhonoring president, the chief magistrate of the newly
organized state, on the fifth of February, 1608; and here
was he buried, with all the honors, it may be presumed,
incidental to his state and public relations and character.
After the decease of the chief magistrate, his successor,
Rauley Gilbert, on the return of the London ship,
Captain Davis, with the London emigrants, set sail from
Sagadahoc for England.
OTHER PLACES OCCUPIED.
But, A. D. 1619, in March, the petition contemplated in
the contract of April 10, 1606, was presented to the privy
council of the crown, by parties alleged therein to be heirs,
assigns and successors of the grantees of 1606, viz: the
adventurers Popham and Gilbert, and the colonists by them
led out to Sagadahoc.
A hearing was had, and warrant thereupon was ordered;
and Sir Francis Popham and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, among
others, were recognized by the government as heirs,
successors and assigns, to the rights and benefits of
the contract of 1606, and the adventurers thereunder;
and on the third of November, 1620, "Letters Patent,"
as agreed upon in 1606, were duly signed, sealed and delivered to Sir Francis Popham and his co-petitioners. As a
state paper, this transaction is recognized and known in
history as the "Great New England Charter;" and is in
law and fact the complement of the royal contract of April
10, 1606; and is related thereto as a deed to its escrow.
The license of April 10, 1606, with its conditions precedent,
the petition of March, 1619, and the royal warrant of issue
of November 3, 1620, are but parts of one transaction,
founded in licensure, extended by petition, concluded in
execution of the muniments of title, before the common
law statute of limitations of twenty years should intervene.
The remarkable feature of the Great Charter is, that as a




308       POPlAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
state paper, it recites the conditions precedent of its grant,
declares on the face of the record they had been fulfilled,
and that "the original grantees, their heirs, assigns and
"successors, had, in divers years past, discovered a place fit and
"convenient to lay the foundations of a hopeful plantation; had
"taken actual possession of the continent and settled English
"emigrants already, in places agreeable to their desires, in those
"parts."
Discovery, settlements, homestead establishment of
English emigrants, were sole legal precedents of the grant.
It had all been done prior to March, 1619. The fact stands
on the face of the record; and in law the record is conclusive
of the facts on its face. Therefore between April 10, 1606,
and March, 1619, in and about the 440 north latitude, more
than one place was inhabited by the English race. A
voluntary English emigration had already settled in places
agreeable to their desires, in virtue of the colonial undertakings of the Popham expedition of 1607, and growing out
of that enterprise.
The compacts of 1606 had then borne fruit, and ripened
into emigration and settlement.
WHEN AND WHERE?
Answer must come from the record of the public
knowledge of the facts, current at and near the time. It
may be gathered in the literature of the day and age
succeeding. Cotemporaneous and summary statements of
history in England, France, and elsewhere, will give it.
The record is, "that* to the north, in the height of 440,
"lyeth the country of Pemaquid, the kingdom wherein our
"western colony upon the Sagadahoc, was sometime
"planted;" and Pemaquid t was recognized as one of
* Strachey's Travels in Va. Hackluit Papers.
t Colonies: Pemaquid, Province of Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts, Plymouth, Rhode Island, New York, &c.-[Andros'
Tracts, p. 23.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.       309
the ten colonies of New England, and so designated
in 1690.
This is the earliest public English summary of the facts
connected with the Sagadahoc colonial adventure.
The Popham and Gilbert colonists in fact, seized the
"Pemaquid country;" and although located at Sagadahoc,
their relations extended and spread into latitude 44~,-the
latitude of Wiscasset, Muscongus, New Harbor of Pemaquid; and whatever may have been the fate of the centralroot
planted in latitude 43~ 44' north, at Sagadahoc, ramifications must have spread to other points north and east.
It is precisely here are found the relics and remains of
a rudimentary European commerce and civilization. At
Pemaquid are buried pavements, canals, mill-races, leadworks, tanneries, smitheries, mason work, monumental
stones of the dead,-bearing dates from 1606 to 1610,pipes and spoons of the Elizabethan age and manufacture.*
French authorities on English colonization assert
"Pemaquid t to have been the first point which was occupied
"by the English."  The bay is described as "very wide, and
"fine, good anchorage of five fathom; and opposite the
"fort, within musket shot, close to the rocks."
Swedish historians aver, I that, in 1606 and the year
* The great New England voyager says, Bristol merchants dispatched vessels, one of fifty tons and one of twenty-six tons and
forty-three men and boys, 1603, of which Robert Saltern, who had
made a voyage in the Concord with Captain Gosnold the year before,
was pilot.
June 7, he touched the coast near the 43~, "found plentie of
"most sorts of fish, a high country full of great woods, was kindly
"used by the natives, who came in troops of tens, twenties and
"thirties." He followed the track of Gosnold. " New England
"was brought out of obscurity, and afforded freight for near two
"hundred sail of ships, where is now erected a brave plantation."
-[P. 243, Smith's Hist. Va. Vol. i.
t Spelled Pemcuit.-[Mon's Cadilae's Report.
I Campanius' Hist., Brn. Telegraph.




310       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
following, a considerable number of people under Captain
George Popham and Gilbert, settled themselves in New
England; and after they found themselves comfortably
established there, they built a town. After 1612, "a
" number of people went thither."
The ecclesiastical reports of French missionaries of that
day, "show that the English were resident at Pemaquid
"1608-9."
Of the colonization at Sagadahoc, the French record
avers,t "that the new colony fell into languishment," (not
that it died out;) "and the several individuals who made
"voyages during four or five years, brought little profit to
"it until the voyage of Captain John Smith."
Hubbard, the early American historian of 1677, declares
"the first place a ever possessed by the English in hopes of
"making a plantation, was a place on the west side of
"Kennebec, called Sagadahoc; and that other places adjoniing
"were soon cafteP seized and occipied,-imploved  inmp d  trading and
"fishing."  Sullivan gives it as the current tradition of his
day, "that there were people at Pemaquid from the time
" of Gilbert's possession. They were strangers, and did not
"venture south till the settlement of Plymouth."
Such are the concurrent statements of published accounts
in confirmation of the record of the state papers of 1620,that before that time, and in virtue of the transactions and
compacts of 1606, the English race were already settled in
places agreeable to their desires in these parts;-and at and
about Pemaquid, which stood as a separate ~ and independent colony, these places are found. The colony of Pemaquid
and the province of Maine, divided the territory of Maine.
* Jes. Relations. Memorial Vol., Brunswick Telegraph.
t French Encyclopedia of 1760, Trans. Dr. L. Woods.
u Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 246-7.
~ Andros' Tracts, p. 237, Vol. ii. Address of Gentry, merchants
and als., of New England to the king.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     311
The civil divisions of North America of that day, ranked
Pemaquid a "kingdom." Muscongus, Sagadahoc, and the
islands intervening, were provincial dependencies. Subsequently it was classed as a colony; then the County of
Cornwall.
The Pemaquid country was, therefore, the objective
point in the stipulations for occupancy under the royal
licensure of April 10, 1606; and Pemaquid was the "locus
"in quo," where places fit and convenient to lay the foundations of hopeful plantations had been discovered, taken
attual possession of, and settled with people agreeable to their
desires; a port opened and fortified; trade established in
conformity to the conditional undertakings of the Popham
adventures, their heirs, assigns and successors.
PEMAQUID A CENTER OF TRADE.
To the Pemaquid region, then glowing with the exaggerations of new discovery, settlements, trade, and other
incidents of permanent possession with the English race,
the warrant of 1619, and the " Great New England Charter"
of November 3, 1620, related in the recital of settlements
already made, and of places desirable, fit and convenient.
Therefore it is not without just grounds that Thornton
has declared that the discovery of Pemaquid and the
capture* of its native inhabitants form the initial period of
New England colonization.
The development of English life and civilization, at the
aboriginal points of Pemaquid and Muscongus, made rapid
progress.
SUMMARY.
The ships of the colonial expedition of 1607, which sailed
from Plymouth in execution of the contracts of 1606, were
* Weymouth's voyage, Rosier's Acc't. -[Thornton's Ancient Pemaquid.




312      POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
dispatched to the scene of the Weymouth voyage of 1605;
and in the expedition was one of the Pemaquid natives
captured by Weymouth on that voyage.
The Gift of God and her consorts, first cast anchor in
the Pemaquid waters; and were there deserted of their
native guide, the returned captive, who, at Pemaquid,
joined his countrymen. The harbor of the peninsula of
Sabino, as we have before shown, was their next place of
anchorage for debarkation. It had attracted the emigrant
colonists as a desirable place, where ground was broken on
the twentieth of August. A permanent foothold was
contemplated; and all the elements of English civilization
in law and religion, the great civilizing forces of humanity,
were here first combined and took organic form on the soil
of New England; and a town of fifty houses, a store-house, a
fort entrenched and fortified with mounted cannon, a
ship-yard, with a thirty ton vessel, the Virginia, on the
stocks, at once adorned the margins of the sheltering
headlands of Sagadahoc.
It was the opening scene of English possession, industry
and thrift. It was the colonial blossom of the first planting. Did it bear fruit?
It is charged with blight the next year. The narrative
closes the account of English residence here, in the
language following, viz: "The company by no means
"would stay any longer, especially Captain Gilbert being to
"leave them; wherefore they all ymbarqued in the new
"arrived ship and the Virginia, and set sail for England;
"and this was the end of the northern colony upon the river
"Sayadahoc."
It was, therefore, the Sagadahoc River abandonment;and, strictly construed, it relates to the departure of the
colonists resident at that point, which is the emphatic
feature of the statement. This narrative, for this reason,
seems to be limited to transactions connected with the
Gilbert administration, his ships and company, and to the




POPHAM S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.    313
river Sagadahoc, and has no necessary relation, as it does
not mention the Popham ships, to transactions connected
with their movements or mission; or to transactions at
other fit and convenient places adjoining, seized and
improved in trading and fishing in the Pemaquid country,
as related by Hubbard.
ABANDONMENT PROTESTED.
But the abandonment certainly was not concurred in by
all the adventurers. The Popham influence being overruled, did not submit. Sir Francis, heir and successor to
the Popham estate, would not acquiesce. "He * would not
"so give it over," (ie. the settlement and trade of the
country here,) "but taking the remaining ships and provis"ions of the company, continued voyages to the coastfor trade
"and fishing." The Popham family then persisted in the
occupancy of the country; and their ships, which led the
way in opening up its further resources, held the ground,
but not at Sagadahoc.
An island, environed with mountain tops clad with tall
forest oaks and pines, half a league in circuit and some
fifteen acres in area, dividing a river channel east of Pemaquid into a cross, discovered and occupied by Champlain
in May, 1604, had become the seat of a party of French
protestants under DeMonts, a French protestant nobleman.
The seaward end of this island rolled naturally into a
hilltop, was mounted with cannon, and crowned with a
chapel in fashion a wigwam. The opposite end of the island
was graded and entrenched and guarded by a fort; and
between were the lodges of the Swiss, and other little houses,
like a city suburb. At the brook on the main near, had been
reared cabins for others. Here were one hundred colonists.
The fort was solid carpenter work, which covered DeMonts
home,-and floated the flag of France above. A magazine of
* Plymouth Co. Relation, Vol. ii., M. H. C., p. 33.
40




314      POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
like work, covered with shingles, stood in the rear and opposite the residences of Champlain and other noblemen of the
party, where, also, was a covered gallery for work and
amusement; and between the fort and platform for cannon,
garden patches were all filled in.
It was a most elaborate colonial French establishment.
Left by DeMonts for Port Royal, Plastrier of Honfleur
held possession, 1608-9.
The rumor of English evacuation of Sagadahoc soon spread
to the east, and into the French settlements at St. Croix,
which were made four years anterior to the abandonment
of Sagadahoc.
1609-10, Plastrier commanded at St. Croix, where he
held Neutral Island in the interest of French colonization.
It was his purpose to expand his authority, and stretch the
scepter of the French crown over Sagadahoc and cover the
passes to the magnificent Kennebec otuntry.
He therefore planned an expedition from St. Croix, and
embarked to seize the abandoned English homes. Arriving
off Pemaquid, at the island of E. mmetinic, he encountered
English ships. and was captured. They had letters of the
King of England warranting what had been done, under
which the English commander justified, producing the
letters themselves; and there can hardly be a shadow of
doubt that they were the "Letters Patent" of the royal
license of April 10, 1606, which were the charter papers of
the "Gift of God" and her consorts, in the Sagadahoc
voyage of 1607, and which, the record shows, expressly
authorized the act sought to be justified.
The French narratives of transactions at Sagadahoc in
1607-8-9, presuppose other points seized and occupied in
virtue of the Sagadahoc expedition, and a continued,
though languid colonial existence. Smith's voyage, which
that account notes as a quickening force to that existence,
was made six years after the abandonment of Sagadahoc.
It was made, not to the Sagadahoc site of the English




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     315
settlement of 1607, but to the ancient E. mlmetinic (now
Monhegan,) the great landmark in the direct track of
European voyages, a dependency of Pemaquid, and a
quarter of a degree north and east of Sagadahoc. This
island is an insular, truncated mountain top, between which,
and the fragments thereof, is a remarkable harbor of refuge;
and the island, without doubt, gave its Franco-Indian name
to the contiguous projecting mainland, stretching into the
ocean toward Europe, beyond all other mainland projections of the North American coast; and into its little
harbor Smith moored his two ships from London, in the
summer of 1614, freighted with goods for trade in furs.
This he found profitless, as he says, "because of the
"pre-absorption of that trade by the Pophams, in'a port'
"on the main opposite."
PEMAQUID PORT DISCOVERED.
His language is: "Right on the main against us, Sir
"Francis Popham's ship was in; and had such acquaint"ance, haveing used that port only for many years, that
"most part of the trade was there had by him." Smith
was obliged to go to gardening and boat building at
Monhegan, and launched seven. Some of his men he kept
fishing. The others he used in coasting the main westward
to Cape Cod and beating up trade and gathering freight,
and so made up cargoes for his homeward voyage, of great
value. This voyage was in the interest of London.
Gilbert and Digby, in the right of the interest of that city,
had, by their abandonment of the fort and ship-yard of
Sagadahoc, not only severed the interest of the late
company operations there, but had offended the Popham
influence in that undertaking, represented by the heir-atlaw, Sir Francis, who would not give over the enterprise,*
* Gorges. Plymouth Co. Relation, Vol. ii., M. H. Coil., p. 33.
Sir F. Popham, having the ships and provisions of the Co. which
remained, sent divers times to the coast for trade, &c.




316       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
but withdrew his father's ship and freighted her on his own
account, under Captain Williams; and which, without
doubt, was the ship found by Smith in port at Pemaquid,
in the exclusive control of the trade of the main there.
The intrusion of Smith, under the circumstances in the
interest of the London trade, into Popham's port at Pemaquid, would have divided the trade Popham's perseverance
and enterprise had created, and would, therefore, have been
a trespass. These facts and theories concur with the
French version of the Sagadahoc enterprise. If that
enterprise in 1607 died out at Sagadahoc, and the operations of the adventurers as a company there closed, it
must have survived at Pemaquid, (although a languid
exotic,) in the personal and private enterprise of the
Popham family with the Popham ships alone, till the
quickening force of the profits of Smith's voyages moved
English commercial circles at London, to active cooperation.
CHARACTER OF ITS BUILDINGS.
In 1677, Hubbard declares "there had been at Pemaquid
"for a long time, seven or eight considerable dwellings,"ie., old homesteads in his day. They were not warehouses,
but dwellings;-not log shanties,-fisher's huts,-but "con"siderable establishments."
There must have been other buildings of lesser note, of
humbler pretensions,-for convenience of trade, use of
laborers, artisans, ship stores, fishermen and furriers, of
equal antiquity, probably ante-dating the considerable
dwellings, and making the port of 1614 a freight depot of
the Popham ship.
THE OWNERS OF SAGADAHOC AT PEMAQUID.
It is certain immediately after the English evacuation of
Sagadahoc, Plastrier, in the interest of France, purposed a
reoccupation of the Sagadahoc hamlet. Off Pemaquid, in
execution of the design, he was captured by English ships,




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     317
and forced to abandon the attempted intrusion; the commander of the vessels, producing letters under seal of the
English crown, authorizing the force and violence, who at
the same time informed Plastrier " that they were masters of
"the place,"-a declaration founded on the fact that he and
his ship's company, by possession or occupancy, and labor
there in building up Sagadahoc, gave a natural right to the
place, as their own establishment.
The licensure of 1606 covered the acts of the captors;
and the actual possession of the Sagadahoc section of the
Pemaquid country in 1607, made the adventurers of that
licensure, their heirs, assigns and successors, masters of the
place, under English law.
FLAGSHIP OF POPHAM EXPEDITION AT PEMAQUID.
The capturing ship was a government vessel, or she
would not have been armed with "royal letters," nor have
assumed to act as she did in the arrest of the French
colonial agent.
There is no evidence the "Gift of God" or her tender,
the flagship of the expedition and the Popham ship, were
disabled, wrecked, lost, or had become unseaworthy on this
voyage; or that they, or either of them, returned to England
from Sagadahoc before or after abandonment.
There were no other Popham ships in the Sagadahoc
expedition; and if Sir Francis, in disgust at Gilbert's
course, withdrew the ships and provisions, or supplies, of
his father's estate, and put the leading ship in trade at
Pemaquid, it must have been the "Gift of God;" and that
ship, with her tender, 1609-10, armed with the "Letters
"Patent" of her charter, for the original voyage, would
have been in condition to arrest Plastrier, and defeat the
purpose of the French occupancy of the abandoned English
homes and fort at Sagadahoc. The presumption is conclusive that the flagship of the Popham expedition, the Gift
of God, thus stood sentinel over the abandoned fort of St.




318       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
George, and the English interest of Sagadahoc; and was
also the ship Smith found in "port" on the main over
against Monhegan, in the service of Sir Francis, 1614, and
which had been kept in business there, alone, for some
years prior;-there being no evidence there were any
other ships in the interest of the Popham family, engaged
in the Sagadahoc colonization.
INFLUENCE OF THE POPHAM TRADE.
That the fisheries and fur trade of the "Popham voya"ges," gave considerable impulse to colonization, is matter
of public record;f and these voyages were made to the main
under Monhegan, which is Pemaquid.
Its stimulus, 1614, had concentrated a commercial depot
there, as a trade center, which controlled it all. The port
there had so long been preoccupied in the interest of the
Popham estate, it was found impracticable by Smith, to
secure a diversion in his favor.
Therefore, in May, 1614, there was a port at Pemaquid
of some years' standing, and a Popham ship in trade
therein, and in control of a somewhat exclusive and extensive business connection with the country; and it is not
improbable that the seven or eight considerable dwellings
of ancient standing in 1677, adorning and distinguishing
this port, were exponents of its earlier commercial industries,
VALUE OF ITS EXPORTS.
The Pemaquid country and its surroundings, in the
graphic accounts of that day, showed "high, craggy cliff
"rocks, stony isles,"-the early voyagers "wondering such
"great trees could grow upon them." The sea there too,
was "the strangest fishpond ever seen. The coast moun* Major's Introduction. Tra. in Va., p. 17.
t Strachey's Tra. in Va.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.    319
"tainous, and isles of huge rocks, overgrown with most
"sorts of excellent good woods for house building, the
"building of boats, barks or ships, with incredible abun"dance of most sorts of fish, much fowl, and sundry good
"fruits; a region where the natives take and kill most of
"their otter."
Compared with Newfoundland, the fisheries of Pemaquid
were reputed fifty per cent more valuable. "A hundred
"fish from its waters, were, in marketable worth, equal to
"two hundred of the eastern catch, with half the labor in
"curing, and a whole voyage, in season, earlier." "Scarce
"anyone," continues Smith in the record of his experience
here, "will go beyond the port they fish in, within a square
"of three leagues, where five hundred sail may have
" freight." * All these allegations relate to the resources and
surroundings of the port, where Smith found Popham's
ship in trade in 1614; and this was a port of the Pemaquid
country,-the "coast of the hillocks," known to the Spaniards,-and where they had been and gone, prior to 1607,
and left their fishing shallops behind to the natives, who
had learned to handle, sail and manage with grapnel
at sea.
The "Treasurer," one hundred and thirty tons, carrying
fourteen guns and sixty men, Captain Argall, harbored
here the year before Smith did,-and from thence made an
attack upon the French settlements t east of Pemaquid,destroyed all that remained of DeMonts colony at St.
Croix, and broke up their trading post at Penobscot, capturing their vessels, a ship and her pinnace. The port under
Monhegan, its surrounding of fisheries and fur trade,had become attractive in the largest commercial centers.
Two ships from London and six from Plymouth, sailed for
the Pemaquid country in 1615.
* Smith's Description of N. E., pp. 188-242.
t Shea's Charlevoix.




320       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
NACHEEN'S VOYAGE.
The Nacheen * of Dartmouth, of two hundred tons,
Brawnde, master, made Seguin the 20th of April, and
reached Monhegan the 24th. A fleet of twenty-four sail
made their voyages there the same season; among which
the Blessing, the David of one hundred and forty tons, the
Trial and the Judith are mentioned. The Plymouth and
the London fleet returned fully laden with back cargoes.
The Nacheen had large store of freight for trade, to be
delivered to a pinnace sent out to meet her at the rendezvous at Monhegan, or the Damariscore Islands, both
dependencies of the Pemaquid country. The tender did
not arrive till the last of June, and then was wrecked.
Moreover, Sir Richard Hawkins, president of the Plymouth
company, was at Monhegan, and took from the Nacheen
her fishing boats. This made it necessary for Captain
Brawnde to build others. These adverse circumstances
delayed and damaged the voyage. In his narrative of his
experiences and observations at and about Monhegan, in
the Pemaquid country, Brawnde wrote home to England,
"that great voyages in fish and furs could be made here,
"if not spoiled by too many factors, and bad faith with the
"Indians."
He extolled the fisheries, declaring them superior to
those of Newfoundland, especially in size and fatness of
the catch. He describes the country to be healthful; the
natives as gentle-natured, and disposed to be on terms of
intimacy and friendliness with the English. t
* Brande Selin, Hist. Gen. Register, No. iii., p. 250. Sept.
1874.
t At this date the great and decisive Tarratine war with the
Wawenock race was raging around the seat of the Bashaba of Pemaquid, in which the domination of the dynasty of that sovereign was
terminated, and the race scattered.-[Prince's Annals, p. 43.




POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.     321
MONHEGAN ISLAND A TRADE STATION, A. D. 1616.
Pemaquid had, by the enterprise and perseverance of
the Popham interest and family, reached a point of
attractive commercial eminence in 1614, which soon called
into activity the leading mercantile commercial influences
of London, as well as Bristol, England.
At this date Sir Ferdinando Gorges appears, actively,
personally to engage in the commerce which had grown up
around Popham's port on the main opposite Monhegan,
with a view to private emolument. Gorges joined Dr.
Sutcliff in the outfit of two vessels in execution of a plan
projected by Captain Smith, on his last voyage, for the
opening of a new depot for commercial adventure in the
Pemaquid country. One of these vessels, the Vice-Admiral,
was two hundred tons, and the other fifty tons. Thomas
Dermer was put in command of one, and Captain John
Smith of the other.
The diversion and concentration of trade at Monhegan
Island, or the fishing islands adjacent to Pemaquid, near
Popham's port on the main, were the avowed purposes of
the enterprise,-the design seeming to be the creation of a
new, if not rival center for the Pemaquid trade and
fisheries.
The ships sailed together. One hundred and twenty
miles out, Smith strained his masts, which were broken in
a gale, and his vessel was driven back to port. Dermer
escaped, and made a successful voyage, executing his
commission, left his vessel at the "usual place" to finish
her voyage, which she did, and returned to London fully
and profitably laden. To escape the inconveniences,
expense and delay of the absorption of the native trade at
Popham's ship's port on the main, encountered in his first
voyage there, Smith had projected the expedition covering the fruits of Dermer's enterprise; and to assure its
success, he says, "he made an arrangement with a proud
41




322       POPHAM'S TOWN OF FORT ST. GEORGE.
"savage, and one of the greatest lords among them, Naha"nada." This was the savage Sagamore in command at
Pemaquid when Popham and Gilbert touched there in 1607.
The fruits of the Dermer voyage were homesteads
around Monhegan Island harbor, and of its island
surroundings, all dependencies of Pemaquid. Thus a new
depot for trade and freight,-island ports,-in the interest
of Gorges, appeared.
Gorges, therefore, was the founder of the Monhegan and
adjoining island settlements, as Sir Francis Popham had
been that of the main-land port of Pemaquid,-and at what
was in 1625, and is still known as "New Harbor,"-a
beautifully situated cloven inlet, of two small harbor openings on the east shore of the Pemaquid point at its base.
Neither of these establishments were corporate or colonial
enterprise, but the fruits of private adventure, as freight
stations for English voyagers and fishermen, and had their
beginnings in the colonial adventures of 1607.*
With Popham's port, New Harbor, on the main peninsula
of Pemaquid, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges' plantation, with
its insular surroundings, we take a new departure, from
whence, to observe the growth of the country and the view,
becomes more definite in outline, and distinct and traceable in detail.
* Thomas Hunt, the kidnapper, was concerned in these transactions, with a view to thwart Smith's purpose of opening a new port
of trade. Hunt says, he, "thinking to prevent the interest, I had
" to make there a plantation, &c." Stole several of the natives and
sold them into slavery.-[Smith's Description of N. E., p. 176.




ARTICLE XVIII.
MEMOIR OF
COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.
BY JOSEPH WILLIAMSON, ESQ.,
OF BELFAST.








COLONEL BENJAMIN BURTON.
BENJAMIN BURTON was born in the old block-house in
Thomaston, on the ninth of December, 1749. He resided
the greater part of his life four miles below that place, in
the town of Cushing, and died at Warren, May 23d, 1835,
aged eighty-five years. His grandfather, of the same name,
was a native of Wales, and was in Cromwell's army when
he reduced the Irish to obedience under the Commonwealth.
His son Benjamin, at the age of twenty-one years, was
induced to emigrate to the province of Maine, by General
Waldo's Proclamation, which young Burton had seen, and
which offered lands in the Waldo Patent, without price, to
actual settlers. He embarked with his father and many
others, and landed at St. George's River, in 1736. His
father died during the passage. In the celebrated expedition against Louisburgh, in 1745, the son was a lieutenant,
and as such acquired considerable credit. On his return,
the command of the block-house at St. Georges, now
Thomaston, was assigned him; Jabez Bradbury being at
the same time captain of the fort, and, prior to'hostilities,
which, in August of that year, were declared against all the
tribes, being also truck-master. On the following month a
large body of the Tarratine Indians, who were probably
not aware of the declaration, encamped in the vicinity of
the fort, to which they sent four principal chiefs or
sagamores, who had assumed English military titles, to




326       MEMOIE OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.
procure ammunition. Struck with the perilous condition
of these visitants, who were until then apparently ignorant
of their danger, Bradbury ordered them to return direotly
to their companions, or they were dead men. But either
through fatigue, or, more probably, an intemperate use of
strong drink, they encamped on the margin of Mill River
for the night. Learning their position, Captain Burton and
Lieutenant Proctor of the militia, with a band of men,
pursued and found them in their camp. One, whose name
has not been preserved, having stepped down to the river
for water, escaped. Burton, with a single blow of his
sword, cut off the head of Captain Morris, one of the chiefs.
Captain Sam, another one, was dispatched by Proctor, or
some of the party. Colonel Job was taken prisoner and
carried to Boston, where he died in confinement. Some
regretted the event so early in the war, and so exasperating
to the Tarratines. Others rejoiced, especially at the death
of Morris, for "he had been a great terror" to the settlers.
The son of Morris, in revenge for his father's death, frequently threatened to kill Burton, but never found an
opportunity to execute his purpose. After the treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1749, it was supposed that the war had
terminated, and that the settlement at Broadbay, Waldoborough, would be revived. The next spring, therefore,
one Smith, a German, against the remonstrances of Burton
and other friends, returned with his wife and her son to
their old habitation in that place. His removal being
known, he was followed by Indians who soon attacked his
cabin, and by hurling torches against the roof, which was
covered with spruce bark, endeavored to set it on fire.
All such as took effect, Smith was able from the inside to
thrust off, and thus avert the intended mischief. Unable
to succeed in this manner, the savage assailants resorted to
stratagem, by cowering down in silence and entirely out of
sight. Smith, finding the attack had ceased, raised his
head through the roof, when he received a ball in his neck.




MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.     327
The Indians then rushed into the hut, dispatched his wife
and himself, and scalped them. Her son, Peter Canagh,
who was lame, having been hidden in the cellar, was not
injured, and afterwards returned safely to the fort. When
the war had fully closed, about the year 1750-1, Burton
settled in the present town of Cushing. Being a man of
prudence, and fearing that peace would not continue, he
judiciously and strongly fortified his habitation, whereby it
acquired the name of "Burton's fort." Although always
watchful of danger, he made a comfortable living for his
family by cultivating potatoes, which with fish and clams
constituted their chief means of support. In the French
and sixth Indian war, which commenced in 1754, an
expedient, adopted during the preceding one, and which
proved effective, was now pursued to great advantage and
extent. "When any of our men went from the fort, they
"were flanked by some half dozen Newfoundland dogs,
"which were trained to keep at the distance of a gun shot
"from the party, in order to surprise any Indians lurking
"about, or in ambush. Through fear of detection, the dogs
"would rarely be fired upon, while they always gave our
"men timely warning to defend themselves against any
"Indians whom they might scent." At one time, when an
alarm was given, Captain Burton and his wife, with four
children, were at some distance from the fort. Taking one
on his back, and one under each arm, his wife carrying a
fourth, they all reached their home in safety. This worthy
man was frozen to death, March 21st, 1762, by being caught
in the ice in the St. Georges River, while in a boat. The
snow at that time was four feet deep on the ground, and
covered with a crust sufficiently solid to bear teams.
Such was the father of Benjamin Burton, the third of
that name, who is the principal subject of this note and
intended biographical sketch. He was left an orphan at
the early age of thirteen. On the memorable sixteenth of
December, 1773, happening to be in Boston, on a visit, he




328        ME1OIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.
went in the crowd to the old south meeting-house, and as
soon as the patriot orator had closed his animated address,
Burton heard the cry of "tea party, tea party." Touched
with the spirit of the times, he joined in the enterprise,
went on board one of the ships, and labored with his
might between two and three hours in assisting to throw
three cargoes of the detested tea into the water. The
whole number of chests broken open and emptied was
three hundred and forty-two. It being about low water,
the tea rested on the bottom, and when the tide rose, it
floated and was lodged by the surf along the shores. In
September, 1776, Mr. Burton was commissioned a lieutenant in the continental army, and the following spring he
received the appointment of captain in Colonel Thurburn's
regiment in Rhode Island. Withdrawing from the service,
July 14th, 1779, he returned to his home in Cushing. From
April, 1780, he served as major about nine months in
Maine, under General Peleg Wadsworth, and was discharged only a few days before that intrepid officer was
taken prisoner and carried to Bagaduce, (now Castine,) on
the eighteenth of February, 1781. By order of the British
commander at that post, a flag of truce was sent to Camden
at Wadsworth's request, carrying letters from him to his
wife and to Governor Hancock, which were forwarded by
Major Burton, then at Camden. After Burton's return
home, and after he had conducted the General's wife and
her friend, Miss Fenno, under a passport, to visit him in
his confinement, the vessel of Burton was captured by the
enemy near Monhegan. He was immediately conveyed to
Bagaduce, and imprisoned in the same apartment with
General Wadsworth. The latter thinks this occurred about
the middle of April, 1781; Burton says it was in March.
From reports and hints which were deemed authentic, both
parties believed that certainly the General, and probably
the Major, were to be sent, in convenient time, either to
Halifax or to New York, and thence to England, where




MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.      329
they would be kept, and treated as prisoners during the
war, the length and events of which were entirely uncertain.
They, therefore, soon formed a resolution neither to cross
the Atlantic, nor to linger in protracted incarceration, and
determined to escape, or perish in the attempt. They took
a view of their geographical situation, with which both, and
particularly the General, had previously been acquainted.
Bagaduce they knew was a peninsula, a mile and a half in
length from north-east to south-west, and about a mile in
mean breadth, surrounded on all sides by water, except at
its northerly part, where two coves from the east and west
approximate each other within one hundred rods or less,
having an isthmus or marsh by which the peninsula is
joined to the main-land. The bed of the north-western
cove, and the beach of the Penobscot, contiguous, were
sandy, and uncovered at low water, the height of tides at
that place being uniformly about fourteen feet. An escape
was utterly impracticable unless effected in this quarter.
The garrison was on crowning ground in the central part
of the peninsula, between which and the isthmus, a distance
of half a mile, were rocks, stumps and brush. In form the
fort was tetragonal, with a bastion at each corner, constructed by an embankment twenty feet in height, exclusive
of the exterior moat, guarded by pickets. The. walls, which
were secured by a friezing at the top, and c eveaux-defrieze at the bottom, were sufficiently capacious to contain
a commodious block-house in the center of the area,
containing apartments for officers and barracks for the
soldiers. The prisoners' room was between two others
severally occupied by the officers. One end of it was the
wall of the building, the other formed in part the side
partition of a long entry. From this the entrance was by
a door containing a window sash, which was frequently
opened by the guards. Without the fort, within, upon the
walls, and near the doors of the block-house, sentinels were
42




330       MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.
posted, and also two in the entry near the prisoners' door.
The gates were shut at sunset, and a picket guard was
placed around the fort and towards the isthmus to prevent
escape to the main-land.
From items of information acquired in replies to questions asked with apparent indifference, and from a refusal
either to parol or exchange them, as had been formally
proposed by Governor Hancock, the apprehension of the
prisoners became strengthened into a belief that they were
soon to be transported to some unknown destination.
Hence, they justly inquired within themselves, "what are
"we to expect from such enemies, exasperated as they are
"by a war, expensive and hitherto inglorious to them,
"prosecuted, too, against men who are regarded as rebels?
"It is true, that, if we fail in our attempt to escape, chains
"and dungeons await us; but then at worst, our captivity,
"which is now grievous, will then only be galling." Thus
wrought up to a desperation not to be expressed, and only
equalled by the emergency, they formed their resolution
with an unshaken firmness, and their plans with an
ingenuity that nothing but the event itself could pronounce
either wise or foolish; while the undertaking was exceedingly daring, if not highly presumptuous.
As their room was ceiled overhead with pine boards, they
finally determined upon this plan of escape: to cut off one
of them, and thus open an aperture sufficiently large for a
man to pass through to ascend by it and along the joists
over the officer's apartments, and lower themselves down
silently into the entry by means of a blanket, thence pass
directly across the intervening space and up the embankment, where, from their window, they had seen a travelled
path; thence by further aid of their blankets slide down
from the friezing into the ditch, and hasten to the beach at
the westerly extremity of the isthmus, which at low water
might be easily passed. They began upon the ceiling in
the night with a penknife, but immediately found that the




MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.     331
strokes, by their sound made in the hours of silence, would
assuredly betray them, as would their appearance in the
daytime, unskillfully cut as they were in the dark. Thus
defeated, they were convinced that nothing could be done
upon the ceiling except by daylight; nor was there more
than an hour of that time, namely, between twelve and one
of the clock, while the officers were dining, that the work
could be prosecuted, so frequently were they visited and
viewed by their sentinels through the sash door.
Next, they obtained from Barnabas Cunningham, their
waiter, a gimlet, for which Major Burton made him a
present of a dollar, pretending it as a reward for his
courtesy, rather than a price for the article. This, by their
care, excited no suspicion, and even if it had been otherwise, they knew he would never make a disclosure which
might give himself trouble. They began to use the gimlet
as soon and as often as they dared, but the work went on
slowly. Wadsworth, a man of middle stature, could, when
standing on the floor, only reach the ceiling with the ends
of his fingers. But Burton, whose height was about six
feet and a half, could use the instrument without a chair.
The work, therefore, devolved almost entirely upon
him. It was important to make the most of their hour,
and of the period when the garrison was under arms
on parade. At those times, therefore, the waiters were
purposely sent away on errands, and the prisoners commenced walking in their room, corresponding with the steps
of the sentinels marching through the entry, all passing by
the glass door together. It was soon ascertained, that, by
a comparative adjustment of steps, and a mutual measurement of time and distance, the passage of their guards
through the entry occupied twice as long as it did
themselves to pace across their room. Therefore as soon
as the prisoners and sentinels at the same moment passed
the door in the same direction, Burton stopped short,
turned his gimlet quickly, then withdrawing it, joined




332        MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.
Wadsworth in his second turn, he having continued his
walk with a little heavier step than when alone, to give the
sound of two persons walking. Thus the work was pursued from day to day, every perforation being filled with a
paste composed of bread and butter. In three weeks the
board was riddled with holes twice across, and the interstices
cut, leaving only a few grains of wood at the corners to
hold the piece in place. As Burton worked, his companion
brushed into the fireplace with a handkerchief any chips or
dust that fell upon the floor.
To prepare for their anticipated escape, they reserved
from their meals bread and meat, which they dried. They
also made from their firewood pretty large skewers, with
which they intended to fasten the corners of their blankets
to the stakes in the friezing on the top of the wall, and thus
let themselves down the exterior embankment of the fort.
Being now ready for their departure, every day and incident
increased their anxiety. As the officers and other visitors
were often gazing around the room, it was feared that the
discoloration of the board by the butter, which composed
the paste that filled the perforations, would betray them.
In fact, some expressions had been dropped by officers,
which, to the ever jealous minds of the prisoners, led to a
suspicion that their design was known. They were also
alarmed by a report that the privateer, which was to carry
them away, was daily expected. Thus a long week elapsed,
without a single night favorable for their escape, as they
desired one which was dark and stormy.
At length, on the evening of June 18th, 1781, a violent
tempest occurred, attended with profound darkness, intermitted with flashes of vivid lightning. At about eleven
o'clock the lightning ceased, and the rain began to fall in
torrents. The opportunity which they had so anxiously
desired, they believed had arrived. They went immediately
to bed, and extinguished their candle while the sentinel
was looking through the sash door. In a short time both




MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.     333
arose and dressed themselves. At first Wadsworth in a
chair, and then Burton on his'feet, labored with the
penknife, until, in about half an hour, they had cut out and
removed the perforated board. Burton, the largest of the
two, ascended through the opening with considerable difficulty. Wadsworth followed, but they saw each other no
more during that fearful night. Burton crept silently along
the joists over the officer's heads, let himself down into the
entry, and thence proceeding through the square, ascended
to the friezing on the top of the wall. While lying there
and waiting for the General, he heard the voice of command
at the opposite guard-house, "Relief, turn out." Supposing by this that his companion was detected, he
immediately threw himself over the friezing, and seizing it
fast with his hands gave his body a pendulous swing; then
gently losing his hold, struck with his feet the chevaux-defrieze unhurt. To avoid the sentry-boxes he proceeded
down the hill over rocks, to the Penobscot at the northwesterly part of the peninsula, as previously proposed,
"where the Americans landed in their first attack upon the
"British, two years before." As it was now of the utmost
importance to elude any search and pursuit which might
be made, and although in his anxiety he had struck the
beach too far down to the westward, he yet waded forthwith
into the water, which, in crossing the cove, was up to his
chin. Much deluded, feeling his way in the dark, and
sometimes swimming, he did not reach the opposite shore
until daybreak. He then travelled a mile or more along
the eastern margin of the river. At a less distance than
two gunshots he saw the enemy's barges, but which,
evidently, had made no discovery. The rain had ceased,
the opening morning was fair, and at sunrise he was safe
on the bank of the river, perhaps seven or eight miles from
the fort. His cup of happiness would have been full, had
the General, whom he supposed retaken or drowned, been
with him. While thus ruminating, he saw his fellow



334        MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.
prisoner calmly seated beside a canoe. The joy of their
meeting can be easier imagined than described.
Crossing the river in the canoe, they "landed at Sandy
"Point opposite, near the south end of Orphan Island."
They then shaped their course through the woods towards
Belfast, and crossing the river Passagassawakeag in a boat
found there, took refreshments at the house of Mr. Miller,
where the village now is. Through fear of seizure by the
villainous tories, and of recapture by the British, they did
not dare to stay over night in the house, but went a mile
into the woods and lodged on the ground. The next
morning they pursued their way to Canaan, (now Lincolnville,) then a plantation of three families, thence to Warren,
and on the third day reached Burton's residence in
Cushing.
Burton knew that the treacherous tories, if they heard of
his arrival, would devise some scheme to retake him. He
therefore remained at home only a single night, and then
went to Boston. Not finding any vacancy in the army
which he wished to fill, he took a commission of Captain
of Marines on board of a twenty-gun ship, commanded by
Captain Thomas Dinsmore. After cruising for about a
month near Newfoundland, the vessel's course was shaped
for Cape Clear, off Ireland, intending to intercept a fleet of
merchantmen from the West Indies. In October, 1781,
seeing four ships at the windward which they supposed
were a part of the fleet, they stood for them. To their surprise they were found to be three British frigates and a
sloop of war. Our ship, unable to escape, the wind blowing
a gale, was taken, and her crew imprisoned in the castle of
Cape Clear until the following February, after news had
arrived of the surrender of Cornwallis. They were then
removed to England, and confined in the old' Dunkirk
seventy-four, from which the overtures of peace set them at
liberty. In an enemy's land, without money and without
friends able to assist him, Major Burton succeeded in




MEMOIR OF COL. BENJAMIN BURTON.      335
getting a passage to L'Orient, in France, and thence in the
frigate Alliance, Captain Harden, was brought to the shores
of his beloved country, and landed at New London, in
Connecticut. From that place, with only eight shillings in
money, he accomplished a journey home, two hundred and
sixty miles, before the end of May.
When the privations and perils of war were over, he,
with many thousands, like the worthy Cincinnatus, returned
to the plough, to enjoy, in straitened circumstances, and
yet with a cheerful spirit, liberties and privileges, no less
the bounties of heaven because they were the price of blood.
Agriculture was his principal pursuit, although to some
extent he engaged in navigation. On the reorganization of
the militia under the statute of 1785, he was chosen
lieutenant-colonel of the fourth regiment in the eighth
division, and subsequently had command of it. He held
his commission until 1796, when he resigned. The next
year he was the representative of Cushing in the state
legislature, the first one ever returned by his town. He
was eight years a magistrate, and never filled an official
position which he did not honor. But in no sphere were
his credentials more heartily and justly awarded him, than
by the christian community. For more than thirty years
he was a devout professor of religion, and at the time of
his death was a deacon in the Baptist church in Warren.
He was married in Rhode Island, before he quit the service there. Two sons and four daughters survived him.
In person, Col. Burton was a tall, straight and large man,
although in his latter days a little bent forward. His
complexion was light and expressive; in motion and
conversation he was quick and animated. In mind he was
discerning, ingenious, and otherwise liberally endowed.
He had a taste for the mathematics and for military tactics,
and especially for reading the scriptures, and works upon
history. Such was this worthy man, beloved by his acquaintances, useful to his country, and happy in his death.








ARTICLE XIX.
ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
COIMMUNICATED JANUARY 16. 1862,
BY REV. EUGENE VETROMILE, S. J.,
OF WORCESTER, MASS.
43








ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
PUBLIC AND DOMESTIC LIFE.
THE Etchimins, Micmacs and Abenakis are very often
considered as one nation, not only on account of the
similarity of their language, customs, suavity of manners,
and attachment to the French, but also for their league in
defending themselves against the English. Although the
Micmacs are generally somewhat smaller in size than the
other Indians of Acadia and New France, yet they are
equally brave. They have made a long war against the
Esquimaux, (eaters of raw flesh,) whom they have followed
and attacked in their caverns and rocks of Labrador.
Newfoundland must have several times been the field of
hard wars between the Micmacs and Esquimaux; the
latter were always chased by the former.
Their chief is called by some Saghem, by others Sangman
(over the whole world,) which is one and the same word, but
differently pronounced. The wife, or wives of the chief
have no power, but they take the title of Sangmansque,
(wi/e of him who is over the whole world.) The sons are
called Sangmansis, the daughters Sangmanskcwessis, the
relations Sangmanhwagodek. The office of the chief has
never been hereditary amongst them, but he was elected
amongst those Indians who had larger families. All,
especially the youth, obeyed the Sangman with great




340           ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
submission and respect. The chiefs of entire nations had
other subordinate chiefs who presided over small tribes,
and settled their difficulties. During the summer season
all the chiefs assembled in a designated spot, in order to
transact the business for the whole nation. Small quarrels
were settled in the camp, and often finished in a fight,
however without much hurting themselves. When the
chiefs thought that they had received any wrong they
assembled all their people in some fixed places, and to
encourage them they made a speech, in which they displayed great eloquence. Then lifting up their axes the
question was proposed, wvhether they would not all agree
to take the injuries into their hands. If the whole company
consented they made a mock skirmish among themselves
as if they were in earnest. They also had recourse to their
conjurors and fortune-tellers, who consulted the evil spirits.
Their bravery in war was great. An instance of it can
be seen in the French war against the English, in the year
1689. In 1673 there was a French fort on the Penobscot,
commanded by Le Chevalier De-grand-fontaine, and
another on the St. John's River, commanded by Mi. Marion.
In 1674, M. De Chambly succeeded Le Chevalier De
grand-fontaine.*  A short time after, in the same year, he
was surprised, on the 10th of August, by an English vessel
with a crew of a Flammish private, one hundred men
strong, who had been laid in disguise there for four days.
M. De Chambly was not prepared to fight. He had only
thirty persons, yet they defended the fort bravely for one
hour, but having received a musket ball through his body,
he was obliged to retire, and the fort and his men, badly
armed, surrendered to discretion They took, also, the
fort at St. John's, which was afterwards destroyed by the
Dutch. M. De Chambly was surprised at this action,
both countries being then at peace, and the author of this
* Charlevoix, Vol. i., liv. x.




ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.       341
outrage had no commission, but he had been put up by
the Bostonians, who could not bear the French to have
possession of the Penobscot. In 1689 the French complained of this act perpetrated by the English and
Bostonians, but to no use, hence a war ensued in which the
Indians joined the French. The Etchimins and Abenakis
made an expedition against the English fort Pemkucit, (it is
croolked,) a very strong fort between the Penobscot and
Kennebec Rivers. The fort was defended by twenty
cannons. The Indians took it by surprise, breaking down
the doors. The English retired to some near houses,
carrying with them ten cannons, the others being taken by
the Indians. The English opened a terrible fire upon the
fort, but to no effect. During the night the Indians
summoned the English to go away, but the commander
laughed, saying that he was tired and wanted to sleep.
During the night the Indians prepared themselves to attack
the English in the morning, and they did so at the breaking
of the day. A hard fire was kept up on both sides, but the
English were obliged to capitulate, and the Indians let
them go away without any commission of outrages. It is
worth mentioning that the Indians found in the fort a
barrel of brandy, which they spilled out without touching
it. The English retired to an island not far from the
coast. The Indians desired to drive them away from that
place, but they desisted, and went back to the Penobscot
in two sloops which they had taken away from the English,
having killed the crew.
ASTRONOMY AND DIVISION OF TIME..
The Indians having no astronomical instruments, no
observatories, no celestial globes and' no maps, are not
expected to have made such progress in astronomy,
which exclusively seems to belong only to civilized nations.
But to think that the aborigines of this continent were and




342           ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
are altogether destitute of this science, would be an
error. True they have no astronomical instruments, and
whether they ever had any is a question for the present
involved in darkness. Yet nature has endowed them with
senses very powerful, which they use with much skill and
accuracy. They are great observers. Many small things,
little circumstances, which generally pass unobserved to
the white, are closely investigated and examined by them.
They can discover the approach of their enemies, their
number and distance. They can tell whether they have
passed through a certain locality, what direction taken, and
the place from which they came, by observing their
footsteps, by examining the bending of the grass and
bushes, by putting close to the earth their ears, and by the
scent which has a great power. It is related that a Micmac
Indian entered a Frenchman's house in Nova Scotia, and
after a little while asked for some brandy. The Frenchman
denied having any, but the Indian said that it was not
true, and by smelling he discovered the place where the
brandy was kept.
Except the religious ideas attached to the sun, we do
not know that it was an object of astronomical observations
to the Indians, but the moon and stars were and are
closely examined by them. They can tell with great ease
the parts of the day and night, corresponding very much to
our astronomical manner of counting the time. They can
indicate with great precision the rising and setting of the
sun, of the moon, and of several stars of the first magnitude, and of some constellations. They paint out in some
manner the degrees of their elevation upon the horizon,
their zenith, etc. They had, and they use yet a kind of
sundial, by observing their own shadow, and that of the
trees. They can travel without difficulty or danger of ever
being lost, through the thickest woods, even by night and
when they can see no moon and no stars. They observe




ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.       343
the bark of the trees, and they can find some difference
between that part of the tree turned to the south, from
that turned to the north. The very shape of the tree can
tell to the Indian the south from the north, the south side
being more luxuriant, and the limbs larger and in better
order.
Further investigations may decide whether the Indians
had any idea of the movement of the earth round the sun.
We know that Copernicus had found in the writings of the
ancients that Nicetas, Heraclites and Ecphantus had
thought of the possibility of the motion of the earth; and
Aristarchus of Samos had taught that the earth revolves
in an oblique circle around the sun, and also revolves daily
on its own axis. It is related that amongst the Egyptian
ruins, far before the time of Copernicus, a pictorial stone
was found representing this system. Therefore it is
possible that the movement of the earth, which was known
in the east far before the time of Copernicus, might have
been known, even to the Indians, who, with great probability, emigrated from the east.
I am not aware whether the Indians knew the polar
star, but they can, with great distinction, point out the
seven stars of the Great Bear, which never set. They can
describe the circle performed by the last star on the tail of
this constellation. They know the constellation Hyades,
called by them Menepessunk, although they cannot tell that
it is in the head of the Taurus. They look on the rising
and setting of the Hyades as an indication of wet weather.
They know the Pleiades, although they cannot say it is on
the neck of the above-mentioned Taurus. They have the
knowledge of the Lyre, of the Head of Medusa, of Orion,
and of several other groups of stars. They can point out
Sirius and other stars of the first magnitude. They are
familiar with the Milky-way, of which curious and fabulous
stories are related. The planet Venus, called by them




344           ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
1fsar'to, is well known to them, and its movements are an
object of great observations, but I do not know that they
can form a distinction between the planets and fixed stars.
But their great object from which they depend for their
astronomical observations is the moon. It is from the
moon that they can tell the kind of weather which they
expect to have. From the moon they can foresee the
approaching of a storm; from the moon the freezing of the
rivers, the breaking of the ice, and the time when an icy
crust will cover the deep snow on the ground. If the moon
appears pale, it is for them a sign of rain or snow; if
reddish, a sign of wind. If the aspect of the new moon is
such as to appear as if it were lying on the earth, it is a sign
of a stormy month; but if she presents herself as if
standing upright to the earth, it is a sign of a fair weather
month. The moon regulates the months and the year.
Every month commences from the new moon, and terminates with it. They have, and had the idea of the four
seasons, of the opening of the leaves, of the closing of the
rivers by ice, of the breaking of the ice, of the warm
weather, of the fall of the leaves and of the season of the
frosts. The new year commences from the longest moon,
that is, when the nights, are the longest. The nights are
the object of their calculations, no consideration being
taken from the length of the days. But the Indians had
no almanac, at least not in my knowledge. The one used
at present has been introduced by me. For this object I
have held several conferences with the oldest and most
talented Indians about their astronomy, and we have
agreed to fix the commencement of the new year permanently on the new moon preceding Christmas. This will
facilitate to them the intelligence of the moveable festivals
of christianity.
The names of the four seasons are the following:
Siquan (spring,) niber (summer,) takwongo (autumn,)
peboon (winter.)




ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.           345
They count twelve months in the year, that is twelve
moons, which are the following:
1. Ketchikizoos, (December,) the long moon.
2. Onglusamwessit, (January,) it is very hard to get a
living.
3. Taquasknikizoos, (February,) moon in which there is
crust on the snow.
4. Pnhadamwikizoos, (March,) moon in which the hens lay.
5. Amusswikizoos, (April,) moon in which we catchJish.
6. Kickaikizoos, (May,) moon in which we sow.
7. Muskoskikizoos, (June,) moon in which we catch young
seals.
8. Atchittaikizoos, (July,) moon in which the berries are ripe.
9. Wikkaikizoos, (August,) moon in which there is a heap of
eels on the sand.
10. Mantchewadokkikizoos, (September,) moon in which there
are herds of mooses, bears, etc.
11. Assebaskwats, (October,) there is ice on the borders.
12. Abonomhsswikizoos, (November,) moon in which the frost
fish comes.
It is to be observed that the months of the Indians cannot correspond with ours because ours are established upon
the system of the revolution of the earth around the sun,
whereas those of the Indians are grounded upon the motion
of the moon around the earth. It is also to be remarked
that as in some years there are thirteen moons, so then the
Indians enumerate, also, thirteen months in one year; but
in order to avoid astronomical confusions, they skip the
moon between July and August, which moon they call
Abonamwikizoos, let this moon go. The month Wikkaikizoos
then, will commence from the new moon entering in August.
This correction in their calendar will bring the year back
to end just at the new moon of Ketchikizoos, which is the
commencment of the new year. The reason why they
skip the moon between July and August, rather than any
44




346           ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
other moon, is because the Indians do not take much notice
of the season having very short nights, and especially when
it is not their hunting season, and when the berries are
already ripe. However, before the publication of my
Indian almanac the Indians could not know that such a
year was to have thirteen moons, till they had arrived to
the long moon, (Ketchikizoos,) or near to it; it was only
then, and not before, that they could discover it, and in
their backward calculations they skipped the moon after
that in which the berries were ripe.
The Indians had no idea of the division of time in weeks,
nor of the division of the week in seven days, hence in
their language they have no corresponding name to the
word week. To say, for instance, thefirst day of the week is
Sunday, they say, Etsi tanbawanskesszuhenakkiwighi sannt,
whose literal translation is, from seven to seven days it is the
festival of Sunday. Their month, however, is divided in
nine parts, not of the same length, or, I would rather say,
that in each moon they count nine phases of unequal distance from each other. They are the following:
1. Nangusu, she is born, (the new moon.)
2. Nenaghil, she grows, (from the fifth to the sixth day of
the moon.)
3. Kegan-demeghil, soon full, (from the eleventh to the
twelfth day.
4: Wemeghil, she is full, (full moon.)
5. Pekinem, after being full, (sixteenth, seventeenth and
eighteenth days.)
6. Utsine, she commences to die, (twenty-second and twentythird day.)
7. Pebassine, she is half dead, (when commencing to
disappear.)
8. Sesemina, v. metchina, she is entirely dead, (when nearly
disappearing.
9. Nepa, she is dead, (no moon.)




ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.         347
The division of the week into days has been introduced
by the white people, that is, first by the missionaries.
The Indians had no idea of it, but such introduction was
necessary for their spiritual and temporal welfare. They
are the following:
Sunday, Sande, (Sunday.)
Monday, Tkissande, (after Sunday,) or Amskawasalokke,
first work day.
Tuesday, Nissidaalokka, (second work day,)
Wednesday, N'setaalokka, (third work day.)
Thursday, Teotaalokka, (fourth work day.)
Friday, Skehewattook, (the day of the cross.)
Saturday, Katausande, (the day before Sunday.)
They do not divide the day into hours, and with some
few exceptions they do not understand this division of the
day into twenty-four hours. On several occasions I was
much amused to see them fetching to me a watch, sometimes going several hours ahead or behind time, but
very often it was not going at all, and asking me to
show them the hour of the day from that watch. They go
by the rising, elevation and setting of the sun, moon and
stars. They now reckon two mornings, the Awinatzspanswi, the morning of the white, and the Alnambay-spanswi,
the morning of the Indians. The former is from daylight to
after sunrise, the latter about eight or nine o'clock A. M.
In the night they observe the different phases of the moon
in order to make allowance for the changing of the time of
her rising.
Like us they divide the astronomical day into day and
night, but, differently from us, they do not divide it into
equal parts, or hours. The day and night is each divided
into six unequal parts, or I may say hours, which are
longer or shorter, according to the season.




348           ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.
DIVISION OF THE NIGHT.
1. Piskie, it is night.
2. Aqtanetepoket, it is after night.
3. Amrw itepoket, it is before midnight.
4. Epassietepoket, it is midnight.
5. Agwamitepoket, it is after midnight.
6. Pitsepoket, the night will soon be over.
DIVISION OF THE DAY.
1. Uspanswiwi, the breaking of the day.
2. Tse'kwat, it is day.
3. Paskwe, it is noon.
4. Pedayusse, it crosses the line and goes on the other
side.
5. Nekile, it sets.
6. Maglangzui'lle, or iegan pesede, the twilight, evening.
In conclusion of this communication, which does not yet
end the article on Acadia and its aborigines, I wish to
remark that the moon of January was formerly called
lekwas'que, the cold is great; but after the destruction of
their village near Norridgewock, it was changed into
Onglusamzwessit, it is hard to get a living. The reason that
they assign for this change is, that, after having lost their
rich land in the Kennebec, they found it difficult to procure
a living in that month. They deny that any compensation
was ever given to them by the government for that land.
I am witness myself of the suffering of the Indians at
Pleasant Point, in the Passamaquoddy Bay, during the
month of January, for want of firewood. It is especially
in this month that the red man at Pleasant Point
remembers the woods of the Kennebec, when in a cold and
frosty night he sees his fire dying away, having used all the
scanty wood which the benevolent tide very kindly drifts
on the shore with charitable, but sparing hand. Then the
poor Passamaquoddy Indian, wrapped in a blanket, falls




ACADIA AND ITS ABORIGINES.       349
asleep on his mat, and dreams of the Mekwas'qte moon on
the shore of the Kennebec, enjoying an abundance of game,
and smoking his calumet of peace at a large, blazing fire.
But, alas! he awakes, and he finds himself benumbed and
starved. They have several times petitioned the government to grant them a portion of woodland to warm their
wigwams at Pleasant Point, during the moon of Onglusamgoessit, and they hope yet that it shall be granted to them by
their good pale-face father in Augusta.








ARTICLE XX.
BINGHAM         LAND.
By WILLIAM ALLEN, ESQ.,
OF NORRIDGEWOCK.








BINGHAM LAND.
AT the close of the revolutionary war the financial affairs
of the country were in a desperate state; an empty treasury
without a revenue and without resources, but little money
in circulation except paper, which was reduced to a nominal
value of two hundred for a dollar.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts felt the pressure,
as well as other states in the Union. The army had been
disbanded without pay, or paid in paper money, scarcely
sufficient to bear their expenses home, and thousands fled
to the wilderness to make themselves homes on unoccupied
lands, wherever they could find any. The title to lands in
Maine along the sea-board, and in some places forty or
fifty miles back, was embarassed with conflicting grants
and claims, on which many soldiers entered.
The title to the land in the central and back part of
Maine was in the Commonwealth, and as soon as the
government in Massachusetts was fairly organized, Governor Hancock called the attention of the general court to
their eastern lands, with a hope that sales might be effected
to raise a revenue to pay the state's debts. In order to
effect an extensive sale, the general court caused surveys
to be made, and established a land lottery, offering the
land at fifty cents an acre, and in the course of four or five
years tickets were purchased by patriotic individuals for
about 300,000 acres, the lottery drawn, and the land con45




354                BINGHAM LAND.
veyed to the holders of successful tickets, and this scheme
was abandoned. General Henry Lincoln, of Hingham, an
officer of the revolution, of good reputation, explored a
portion of the state lands, made a favorable report which
induced a large number of worthy individuals to purchase
by the township, on credit, and with the stipulation to
place forty families on each township within seven years.
Doctor Warren purchased three townships, William and
Jonathan Phillips three, John Lowell two, and many
others one. General Knox, aid to Washington, highly
esteemed during the war, and who was then secretary of
war, being intimately acquainted with General Lincoln,
confiding in his recommendation, contracted for one
million acres on the upper Kennebec, and fifty-two townships east of the Penobscot, for two hundred and sixty-five
thousand dollars, (or ten cents an acre.) He was not in
funds to pay for the land, but was sanguine in the
expectation that he could obtain associates who would be
glad to advance the purchase money and pay him down, or
that he could raise money by sales to settlers, at a greatly
advanced price of fifty to one hundred cents an acre. His
duties in the war department occupied his time so
constantly, that for two years he had none to spare, and he
made no sales and got no associates, and having intermarried in the Waldo family, of Worcester, who were rich,
and who had assigned to him a large tract purchased of
the state near the Penobscot, called the Waldo Patent,
thirty miles square, he, in 1793, assigned his contract to William Bingham, of Philadelphia, an acquaintance, a wealthy
banker, (who had contributed largely to the aid of the
nation, and was highly esteemed for integrity and
patriotism,) for no other consideration than for Mr. Bingham to see him discharged from his contract with the land
agent of Massachusetts. The general court consented to
sell the whole included in Knox's contract to Mr. Bingham,
for $311,250, or twelve and one-half cents an acre. He




BINGHAM LAND.               355
paid down the purchase money, $311,250. He had a deed
made out, but not to be delivered until evidence could be
furnished, within seven years, that forty settlers were
placed on each township, and that each settler who went
upon any part of his purchase should be assigned one
hundred acres whereon he lived, on payment of five dollars,
if he went on before the year 1784, or twenty-five dollars if
he went on before 1800. Conditions made, as with all
other purchasers, for speculation about settlers.
The required number of settlers was obtained on but
a small part of the townships thus sold to Mr. Bingham
and others, within seven years. Mr. Bingham, having
obtained a very large estate, his land in Maine was of but
little value compared with his cash investments and real
estate in New York and Pennsylvania. He had but one
son, who settled in Montreal; two daughters settled in
London; one married to Alexander Baring, the other Henry
Baring, eminent statesmen. His other daughters all married, one to Robert Gilmore, of Baltimore, one to Charles
M. Willing, and one to Charles W. Hare, of Philadelphia;
and being in the decline of life he went to England to
spend his last days in retirement there with his daughters,
and died at Bath, near London, in 1806.
The particulars of the sale of state lands to Mr. Bingham
were not generally known in Maine, or that he had.made
payment. It was known that all settlers who were entitled
to deeds, obtained them by paying, some five dollars,
others twenty-five dollars. The soldiers, and others who
went upon Plymouth Company's lands, and on other lands
of foreign proprietors, were much harassed for many years.
Political parties were extremely bitter against each other.
Some jacobins and democratic leaders, in their electioneering canvass in the early part of the present century,
resorted to fraud and falsehood to gain an ascendency in
the government, and bitter complaints were made against
Governor Strong and the federal party, in 1807, for




356                BINGHAM LAND.
neglecting to enforce the claim of the state in regard to the
Bingham lands, insinuating that they were forfeited for
non-payment of the purchase money. I was a federalist,
and was made to believe that Governor Strong had been
remiss. The federal papers made no reply to these false
charges. The two parties being nearly equal in numbers,
Strong was superseded that year, by false statements about
these lands, mainly, and James Sullivan was chosen
Governor. General King, Abiel Wood, and other violent
democrats, senators in Maine, all then thought the Bingham
lands would be reclaimed forthwith.
When the general court convened, it was soon ascertained that Mr. Bingham had paid down the purchase
money on his contract, and that some forty other
purchasers, of high standing in both parties, had all failed
to get settlers on their lands; but few had made full
payment, beside Mr. B. That he was a patriot of the
revolution, possessed of immense wealth, his five daughters
were married to men of the highest grade, some in England,
and the others in Baltimore and Philadelphia, his only son
was settled in Canada, that Mr. B. had not fled from his
creditors a bankrupt, as alleged, but had retired honorably
from business, and had died at Bath, near London, and
had, by his will, appointed his five sons-in-law devisees in
trust.of his estate, all able and capable to discharge their
trust with fidelity, who had appointed General Cobb and
John Richards, of Maine, to attend to their petition to the
general court for the delivery of the deed, by giving a bond
satisfactory to the state, in regard to settlers to be placed
on the land in the next seven years. All others of the
delinquent proprietors joined in petitioning for an extension
of time. The agents of the devisees, knowing that parties
in the general court might be jealous of each other, procured William King, Abiel Wood, and Samuel Dana, three
democratic senators, and Harrison G. Otis, a leading
member of the senate, John Richards and Stephen Jones,




BINGHAM LAND.                357
three noted federalists, all residents of the Commonwealth,
of sufficient ability, as required, to give their bond in the
sum of $30,000, payable to the treasurer of the Commonwealth, conditioned to make up the number of settlers
required by Mr. B.'s contract, and the deed of the land
was delivered to the devisees, so that they could proceed to
sell the land and give lawful deeds; the time was extended
to all purchasers alike, seven years.
In order to indemnify their bondsmen, the devisees, for
the consideration of $30,000 named in their deed, conveyed
to General King, A. Wood and S. Dana, and to H. G. Otis,
John Richards, Peleg Tallman, Moses Carlton, Benjamin
Porter and S. Jones, one-half of one, two and three townships, viz: Concord, Lexington and Kingfield, in the first
range on the west side of the river, on the million acres.
King took the township of Kingfield and west half of
Lexington for himself, Wood and others, Otis took
Concord and east half of Lexington for himself, Richards
and Jones, and soon became sole proprietor. King soon
bought out his associates, and eventually became proprietor
of the three townships. Mr. Otis visited Maine, paid the
taxes on his purchase, caused a road to be made across it
towards Canada, which cost him three thousand dollars;
this, with taxes for other roads, soon amounted to five or
ten times as much as all the sales he could make. I saw
him several times; he often complained that he had a hard
bargain, and, after several years, sold for no more than he
had paid for roads, taxes and travelling expenses, and
General King took the burden on conditions named in the
bond, wholly on himself, but did not get the full complement
of settlers till 1830, and then on a representation that some
townships were composed of mountains uninhabitable, and
that some settlers died, and some moved off.
The land agent consented that the full quota, of the
ninety-two townships would be allowed, if placed on any
inhabitable part. In 1830 I was employed with James




358                BINGHAM LAND.
Dinsmore six weeks, in taking an enumeration from Mount
Abraham to Schodiac; we found the full complement, with
a small number in excess, counting all who had died on the
premises in the thirty-three years next preceding, and who
had gone off. General King paid us for our service, our
return was accepted, and the bond discharged.
Mr. Otis took the business off from his associates, paid
all bills, received nothing for his services. With all his
skill he could not collect from sales sufficient to pay the
taxes; he, therefore, was glad to give all up to General
King, who assumed all the liabilities of the bond. Mr.
King was engaged in business when he joined the others in
the bond about settlers, reputed to be rich. His Bingham
land was a source of trouble and expense; he derived no
benefit from the conveyances to him, and the taxes and
costs consumed his property, perplexing contention with
town officers and trespassers drove him to insanity, so that
he was placed under a guardian the last years of his life,
who, to get rid of taxes, let his attorney have the remnant,
a large number of lots, to pay for his fees, and his estate
was insolvent. The agents of the devisees of Mr. Bingham's estate managed very judiciously in getting their deed
and engagement through the general court in a quiet, still
and equitable way; no discussion was had. The leaders of
both parties were agreed upon on both sides and reported
all right, and no one complained.
The people of Maine, when they found out that King
and Otis and associates had three of the best townships on
the million acres deeded to them by Mr. Bingham's devisees, imagined that they had been bribed to give up the
state's claim, and many always were of that opinion, and
prevented, as far as possible, any sale to be made to
settlers.
When Mr. Bingham went to London on the recommendation of Alexander Baring, his son-in-law, M. P., he
appointed John Black, an accomplished accountant,




BINGHAM LAND.                359
scarcely twenty-one, to come to Maine and discharge the
duties of clerk to his agents, at twelve hundred dollars a
year. He proved to be a very skillful and efficient agent
as long as he lived, acquired and retained the confidence
of the devisees, and of all with whom he did business.
He was allowed to take all the timber from the land he
could saw in his mills, without compensation, and his
salary was increased, so that he died rich, in October, 1856.
He contributed one thousand dollars to the state insane
hospital. He married a daughter of General Cobb, by whom
he had two sons and one daughter, all intelligent and
respected. When his wife died, he gave a niece of hers a
present of one thousand dollars to take care of his house,
and was married to her not long before he died.
During thirty-five years from the time Mr. Bingham
made his purchase, no sales were made on the Kennebec
tract sufficient to pay the taxes. Sales of timber were
made on the eastern fifty-two townships, and some land
to pay all taxes and expenses. Road taxes on the million
acres were $5,000 in 1828. In September of that year, the
timber land, comprising near one-half, was run out into
townships, and offered for sale at a minimum price of
seventy-five cents, at public auction. I was auctioneer.
Two townships, only, were sold the first day, Spencer
stream tract, at seventy-six, and Maley, at seventy-five
cents. The first of these was resold the next day, at one
dollar, and sales and the price increased from time to
time, till some townships were sold at eight dollars,
or even ten dollars an acre, till all that was classed as
timber land was sold. A timber speculation swept all
before it; other lands fifty cents to two dollars. Then,
when many had made themselves rich, the bubble
burst, and in a short time the price of the best lots
fell to five dollars, and many found themselves bankrupt. Colonel Black effected sales of all that was fit for
settling, and for this and for timber land received sufficient




360                BNGHAM LA NP.
to indemnify Mr. B.'s estate for the first cost and interest,
forty-two years, and to refund all moneys paid for taxes and
agencies, and Colonel Black's fees.
I was employed in the summer of 1828, about thirtythree days, overseeing the making of roads, and settling
taxes, at a stated compensation of three dollars a day. I
made out my account in the fall, which was promptly paid,
and I was notified that my doings were approved, and I
was requested to accept a check on the Suffolk Bank for
one hundred dollars as extra compensation, and to continue
as sub-agent under Colonel Black till the land was all sold,
with extra compensation as to what I did. I continued
to do all that was required of me for twenty-seven years,
and settled my final account amicably with Colonel B.,
only one week before he died, and received at the rate of
ten to fifty dollars a year as commissions over and above
three dollars a day for my services.
No explanation of the transactions of the general court
with the devisees and records was publicly made until 1868,
when a brief statement of the facts was made in a public
paper, and placed on file by the Maine Historical Society,
and transcribed here more in detail by me.
JULY 13, 1871.




ARTICLE XXI.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY;
WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF
DECEASED MEMBERS.
46








PROCEEDINGS       OF   THE   SOCIETY.
IT has been usual to give a summary of the proceedings
of the society in the volume of collections. The long
interval, however, since the publication of the last volume,
makes it inexpedient to occupy space with a detailed record
of so many years. It will, it is hoped, sufficiently effect
the purpose of such publication to make a general statement of the doings of the society during this period.
Besides the regular annual meetings, which are for the
most part meetings for the annual business of the society,
special meetings for receiving communications on subjects
of historical interest and for discussions of the same, have
been held each year, save one, at Augusta, Bath and
Portland, by which the objects of the society have been
made known, and interest in its usefulness and prosperity
been essentially promoted. At these sessions obituary
sketches of deceased members have been given, most of
which appear in the subsequent pages of this volume.
The society, furthermore, have enjoyed the pleasure and
privilege of field days, as they are termed, at Damariscotta,
Pemaquid, York and Monhegan, and other points of
historic interest on that part of our coast, which have
proved beneficial in awakening interest in the history of
the State.
The papers published in this volume have all been
communicated at these special meetings, and this fact




364         PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY.
shows that, though so long an interval has intervened
between the last and the present volumes, the society has
not been idle. But besides its ordinary work, it has been
occupied a large part of the interval in a separate and
distinct work of great interest and importance to the state;
we refer to the series of volumes undertaken under the
auspices of the state, on the documentary history of Maine.
One volume of the series has been issued, and another
containing the memorial of Richard Hakluyt to Queen
Elizabeth would before have been in possession of the
public, had not the disastrous fire occurred which consumed
the manuscript of introduction and notes by the editor, Dr.
Leonard Woods, just ready for the printer, and which has
been still farther interrupted by his lamented illness and
infirmity. Measures are now in train which, it is hoped,
will secure the early accomplishment of that important
work.
Among the more important doings of the society during
these years, may be mentioned the movement, 1861-3, to
obtain copies of documents in the English archives relating
to Maine, which was successfully effected through the
active, and, we should add, the generous agency of Hon.
Freeman H. Morse, then U. S. Consul at London; and
then in 1867-8 the successful effort to obtain the cooperation of the legislature for publishing volumes on the
documentary history of the state now, as before stated, in
progress. Add to these a measure in 1869, of cooperation
with other historical societies to procure fac-similes of
original maps and charts relating to the discovery of
America, and especially of our north-eastern coast; and,
more recently, measures which have issued in obtaining
a donation of a portion of the so called, Trelawney papers,
which had descended to Rev. Robert Trelawney, of Ham,
near Plymouth, England, from Robert Trelawney, an early
colonist and patentee of Richmond Island and the adjacent
shore, now Blue Point, etc., Scarborough. A volume con



PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY.       365
taining these papers is to be published under the editorial
care of J. Wingate Thornton, Esq., of Boston, to whom the
society is largely indebted for his active agency in securing
this curious and valuable body of documents.








NOTICE    OF
HON. ROBERT P. DUNLAP.
BY REV. GEORGE E. ADAMS, D. D.,
OF BRUNSWICK.
THE Hon. Robert Pinckney Dunlap was a grandson of
the first settled minister (of whose settlement there is
record,) of Brunswick, Rev. Robert Dunlap. The grandfather was a native of the county of Antrim, Ireland, a
graduate of the university of Edinburgh, Scotland, and
emigrated to this country in 1736. He was preaching at
Newcastle, Sheepscot Bridge, when he was invited, in 1747.
to settle in Brunswick. This pastorate terminated in 1760.
Mr. Dunlap, to whom this notice refers, was born in
Brunswick, August 17, 1794, the youngest son of Captain
John, and Mrs. Mary Tappan Dunlap.
He entered Bowdoin College, in his native town, in the
class which graduated in 1815, and which, though small,
gained in subsequent years a rank for honor and influence
among the noted classes of the college, two of his classmates being the late Hon. George Evans and Rev. Dr.
John A. Vaughan. After graduation Mr. Dunlap studied
law with the eminent counsellor and advocate, the late
Hon. Benjamin Orr, of Brunswick, and for a time also
with the late Ebenezer Mosely, Esq., a distinguished




368             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
attorney of Newburyport, Massachusetts. Soon after
entering on the practice of his profession the circumstances
of the times favored his own inclinations for more public
life. He was elected,to the senate of the state, and presided over that body in the sessions of 1827-9.
In 1834 he was elected governor of the state, and filled
the office with credit for four years.
In 1843 he was elected representative to Congress, and
served two terms.
Mr. Dunlap was for many years a distinguished member
of the masonic fraternity, greatly respected and exerting
an extensive influence. He served several times as grand
master of the grand lodge of Maine. He also held the
highest office in the "General Royal Arch Chapter of the
"United States of America" three successive terms, of three
years each.
He was, at the time of his death, the oldest surviving
vice-president of the American Bible Society, and had from
time to time held important positions in the management
of various educational and philanthropic institutions.
In all the important political stations occupied by Mr.
Dunlap, while he adhered rigidly, from an honest conviction it is believed, to the leading principles of his party, he
was yet deeply sensible of his responsibility to a higher
authority than party or country, and truly desirous of doing
in all things that which would best subserve the public
welfare. He was exceedingly cautious and deliberate in
forming his opinions upon the various practical questions
that presented themselves to him, and thus was preserved
from many mistakes into which more brilliant, but less
careful minds, would easily have fallen.
As a presiding officer, whether in the senate, the board
of overseers, the town meeting, or in political or philanthropic conventions, Mr. Dunlap was hardly surpassed;
conducting business with great accuracy, promptness and
dispatch, and at the same time with a dignified impartiality.




HON. ROBERT P. DUNLAP.          369
Accordingly, he was often by a common consent, appointed
moderator of the town meeting, even when a considerable
majority of the voters were of the opposite political party;
and was often sent for from abroad to preside over various
public gatherings.
In private life Mr. Dunlap was a man of uncommon
excellence; candid, charitable, peace-loving, abounding in
tender sympathies, avoiding harsh and premature judging
and evil speaking. On the 20th of October, 1825, he was
married to Lydia, daughter of Abner Chapman, Esq., of
Beverly, Massachusetts. His character and life as a
husband and father could hardly be too highly commended.
Three sons and a daughter, together with his widow, survive him.
In 1834, Mr. Dunlap became a member of the congregational church in Brunswick, and from that time to his
death was held in the highest esteem as a christian, not
only by the members of his own church and denomination,
but by those of other christian churches generally. The
religious element was, indeed, the predominant one in his
character for the last twenty years of his life, beconming
more and more manifest as his life was drawing to its
close. His interest in all religious institutions, his anxiety
to promote the cause of religion in the world, were constant
and fervent. His attachment to the holy scriptures was
remarkable. He was eminently a devout man, living and
dying in the faith and hopes of the gospel. No one who
knew him doubted the sincerity or the depth and power of
his religious convictions.
Mr. Dunlap was a popular man throughout the state and
with all parties. Such was the confidence of the community
in his moderation, his good feelings, and his integrity, that
he often, when a candidate for office, received many votes
from others than members of his own party.
In the early part of the autumn of 1859, Mr. Dunlap
made a visit to his two sons then residing in Illinois. On
47




370             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
his return, about the middle of October, he complained of
a severe cold, and in a day or two was obliged to resort to
his bed. It soon became evident that he was sinking
under a typhoid fever. He, himself, from the first thought
he should not recover; and on the 20th of October, the
thirty-fourth anniversary of his marriage, in the full
expectation of a blessed immortality through Jesus Christ,
to the great grief of his family, of the church to which he
belonged, of all the citizens of Brunswick, and of great
numbers beside, he peacefully expired.




NOTICE    OF
REV. JOHN     W. ELLINGWOOD, D. D.
BY REV. JOHN O. FISKE, D. D.,
OF BATH.
1861. —
THE death during the last year of a member of our
society so prominent in his profession and of so marked an
influence in the sphere in which he moved as Dr. Ellingwood, seems to require some tribute of commemoration.
He was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, May 2, 1782. His
father, Captain Joshua Ellingwood, of Beverly, was a
ship-master, and it was designed that his son John should
pursue the same employment. But after one voyage, on
his return to Beverly, he was apprenticed to Mr. Abner
Chapman, (father of the widow of the late Governor
Dunlap of Brunswick,) a silversmith of that place, and in
the course of five or six years became very thoroughly
acquainted with that business. At the age of twenty-one
he was married to Miss Nancy Dike, daughter of Deacon
John Dike of Beverly, a lady every way fitted to adorn the
position in society which she filled. Mr. Ellingwood set
up for himself in business about the time he was married,
and being an excellent mechanic, very prudent, of pleasing
appearance and address, and of great sagacity in the
management of affairs, he prospered much. He records




372             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
in a brief sketch of the earlier part of his life, which was
found among his papers, that his shop yielded him the first
year seven hundred dollars, the second one thousand
dollars, the third fourteen hundred dollars. But he was
appointed to a higher sphere of influence than that which
he then so honorably and successfully filled. His change
of occupation was evidently from no selfish motive, since,
on abandoning his lucrative business in Beverly, his
salary as a minister was only seven hundred dollars a
year.
While he was an apprentice to Mr. Chapman he became
deeply interested in the subject of religion, and in 1801 he
became a member of the congregational church in Beverly,
of which Dr. Joseph McKeen, afterwards president of
Bowdoin College, was then pastor. Being a man of very
sound judgment, of much activity and great clearness and
force in the expression of his ideas, he at once occupied a
prominent position in the church, and in the year 1810, by
the advice of a number of clerical friends, he relinquished
his business as a silversmith and became a member of the
Andover theological seminary, then just established, with
the view of entering the christian ministry. After spending
two years there in diligent study, November 4, 1812, he
was ordained as the pastor of the First Congregational
Church in Bath. Dr. Woods, of Andover, preached the
sermon on the occasion of his ordination. President
Appleton, of Bowdoin College, gave the charge; Dr.
Payson, of Portland, offered the ordaining prayer; Dr.
Jenks, now of Boston, gave the right hand of fellowship;
Dr. Gillet, then of Hallowell, offered the closing prayer.
Dr. Francis Brown, then of North Yarmouth, and afterwards president of Dartmouth College, was also a member
of the ordaining council.
In the place in which he was thus honorably installed,
Dr. Ellingwood continued, a faithful, successful, beloved
minister of the gospel, until, on account of increasing




REV. JOHN W. ELLINGWOOD, D. D.      373
bodily infirmities, he was compelled to resign his office,
which resignation took effect August 17, 1843.
From that time he continued to be actively employed in
various ways, as his health and opportunity allowed, until
within a few years of his death. His wife, who had been
his worthy companion through the entire period of his
pastorate, died October 6, 1844. September 19, 1848, he
married for a second wife, Mrs. Harriet M. Smith, of
Portland. It was an eminently kind providence that
committed the care of Dr. Ellingwood, during his closing
years, to the faithful, competent hands of this accomplished
christian lady.
For two or three years before his death a palsy slowly
crept over his frame, which very much impaired his powers
of motion, and also his mental faculties. He died of the
effects of this disease and of old age, Sunday evening,
August 19, 1860, and has gone, I doubt not, as a good and
faithful servant, to enter into the joy of his Lord. His
funeral was attended by a large number of the citizens of
Bath, by the president and professors of Bowdoin College,
and by a number of venerable clergymen from other places,
who had long been associated with him in various
situations in life.
Dr. Ellingwood possessed a combination of qualities
which fitted him to exert a leading influence in whatever
sphere he might have been placed.
He was a man of great independence of opinion and
firmness of purpose. He never hesitated in the pulpit or
elsewhere, on all proper occasions, boldly to avow his
sentiments, and to stand by them with unfaltering steadiness. In illustration of this, when some one once objected
to some political act of his by which he avowed his
attachment to the whig party, his reply was, "I am not
"only a whig, but an old fashioned federalist; and I publicly
"prayed in behalf of the'Hartford Convention,' during its
"session in 1814." He was a man to be safely reckoned




374             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
upon. Certain things were "in character" for him, and
without any special investigation it could be positively
declared, that what was "out of character" could not be
true. No considerable change, to my knowledge, either in
matters religious, political or social, ever occurred with
him. What he was at the first he firmly held out to be to
the last. Some men stand like a rock-bound shore, nobly
breasting the violence of the waves; and yet, as such a
shore by the ceaseless surges of the ocean will gradually
crumble and recede towards the land, so will they, after a
time, somewhat yield to the influences under which they
are placed. Dr. Ellingwood, on the other hand, was more
like a sand-beach, which, the more it is beaten upon by the
ocean, the more it advances into the sea. Had Dr. Ellingwood
been a soldier after the manner of human warfare, no
better man could have been selected to lead a forlorn hope
in a doubtful battle, or to endure without flinching, to the
last biscuit, the rigors of a siege.
He was also a man of great 2)prdence and wisdom. He
had consummate wisdom in managing complicated and
delicate questions as they came up in his parish, or in the
numerous councils of which he was a member, or in the
affairs of the various literary and ecclesiastical bodies with
which he was connected. I once heard a gentleman who
had known him for more than thirty years say, that for the
faculty called "common sense" he did not believe Dr.
Ellingwood had his equal in the place where he lived, if he
had in the state. His advice was often sought in respect
to almost all kinds of matters; and when he gave a decided
opinion it was very seldom that he was ever found in the
wrong.
In all matters of mechanical skill he was an adept. He
did almost all his own mechanical work. He cleansed or
repaired his watch and his clocks every year on an
appointed day at the exact time, with unvarying regularity,
through his whole ministry. Before a dentist had ever




REV. JOHN W. ELLINGWOOD, D. D.      375
settled in Bath, he had made for himself an excellent tooth
in place of one that was broken, out of the handle of an old
tooth brush; and after that, when he came to need them,
he made for himself a whole set of teeth above and below,
in a manner which no dentist could surpass. By such
ingenuity and skill, he did not a little towards husbanding
his resources, while at the same time it afforded him
agreeable relief from the severer tasks of the study.
He was a very benevolent man. No public or private
charity found him an unwilling contributor. He used to
devote the proceeds of certain fruit trees, year by year, to
certain purposes of benevolence, and whether this was the
reasom? or the result of their being so selected, the fact was,
these "missionary trees" were the thriftiest and the most
valuable in his orchard. To the cause of foreign missions
he gave annually, for many years, one hundred dollars; to
that of missions in this state, fifty dollars; to Bowdoin
College at one time, one thousand dollars; to the Bangor
Theological Seminary, many hundreds in his lifetime, and
his library at his death. I have known him to torrrow
money to meet his customary payment to some benevolent
object, and no deserving man ever found Dr. Ellingwood
deaf to his calls.
He was a very hospitable man, and no one knew better
than he how to entertain, enliven and instruct his guests.
His fertility in anecdote, his aptness in giving the salient
points of a good story, made his table and his fireside
specially attractive.
He had great control of his passions and his tongue. I
never knew him angry, and few they must be who ever
knew him to "speak unadvisedly with his lips." It was
instructive to see how long he would pause when he was
angrily addressed, before he would venture give any kind
of reply.
He was a man of great system and method. Everything
in his house had its own proper place, and every little




376             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
thing for which there might be occasion only once in three
or five years, was carefully laid away against the time of
need. Through summer and winter, through drought and
storm he kept up his meetings with unvarying regularity;
he pursued the fixed course of his pastoral visits, keeping
an accurate record of every important act of every day,
turning neither to the right hand nor the left until, by his
increasing infirmities, he was compelled to lay down his
pastoral charge.
Dr. Ellingwood was not a learned and scholarly man, in
the technical sense of those words, though he retained very
accurately what he had learned and read; and such were
his careful observation and diligent self-cultivation, that
few could have ever detected in him the deficiency of a
classical education. He received the honorary degree of
Master of Arts from Williams College, in 1816, and that of
Doctor of Divinity from Bowdoin College, in 1851. He
was on terms of much familiarity and friendship with the
various presidents and professors of Bowdoin College,
and it is no ordinary testimonial to his high qualities, to
add that his society and counsels were highly prized by
them all.
He became a member of the board of overseers in
Bowdoin College, in 1816, and was active and interested in
the affairs of the institution as long as his bodily and
mental powers allowed.
As a christian minister he was eminently faithful and
successful. Many of the qualities to which I have already
referred contributed materially to this, and when to these
is added his deep and sincere piety, his blamelessness of
life, and his constant devotion, we see that he was endowed
to be a leading man in his profession. His eye was dark,
bright and piercing; his manner earnest, positive and
solemn. One felt under his preaching, that he was
addressed by one who felt what he uttered. His voice, in
the days of his vigor, was strong and good, his carriage




REV. JOHN W. ELLINGWOOD, D. D.      377
firm and dignified, and his whole appearance, though he
was not large in stature, calculated to command respect.
He had a fine faculty of so identifying his text with his
sermon, that both were very sure to be remembered. As
an illustration of this, I remember, when a few years ago
he preached a sermon in my pulpit on "the valley of dry
"bones," a venerable man of the congregation remarked,
as he went out of the house, "Mr. Ellingwood preached
"that very sermon thirty-seven years ago in the old north
"church, just before he was ordained."
His style was simple and perspicuous. No one could
easily fail of understanding what he meant to say. He
might be contradicted or disbelieved, but not easily
misunderstood.
The matter of his preaching was sound, scriptural and
instructive, rather than specially profound, original, or
brilliant. There were great directness and force in his
appeals to the conscience. He entered with all his heart
into his preaching, and so deeply was he affected himself
with the appeals which he made, that he told me he was
obliged often before preaching, to read over some parts of
his discourse a number of times, and so accustom himself
to these sentiments that he could overcome the danger of
being wholly choked and silenced by the intensity of his
feelings, in the delivery of them.
He was particularly clear, forcible, animated and natural
in all his unwritten addresses. He maintained a weekly
repository lecture for the last twenty years of his ministry,
which was well attended, and which was thought by many
to furnish some of the very best specimens of his
preaching.
Five of his sermons were printed. One preached at
Norridgewock, in 1817, before the Maine Missionary
Society; one preached before the "Bath Society for Dis"countenancing and Suppressing Public Vices," 1815; one
on the fifth commandment; one preached at the ordination
48




378             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
of Rev. Charles Frost, of Bethel, in 1822, and one at the
ordination of Rev. Isaac Weston, in Boothbay, in 1818.
He had a very uncommon felicity in public prayer. Few
ever heard him offer prayer, particularly, on any special
occasion, without being struck with his apposite use of
scripture language, his comprehensiveness, without excessive detail, and his eminent appropriateness to the
circumstances.
He became a corporate member of the American Board
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, in 1838, a trustee
of the Maine Missionary Society, in 1820, and a member
of the Maine Historical Society, in 1846.
But his work has ended. He has gone forever from the
place where he resided so long, and upon the character of
whose inhabitants, if I am not much mistaken, he has left
a deep and valuable impression, which will be legible and
distinct, perhaps for generations to come. God has called
him from a laborious and honorable post of service on
earth, to an eternal repose and reward on high.




NOTICE OF
JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.
BY REV. D. R. GOODWIN, D. D.,
PROVOST OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
-  1862.ANOTHER of the founders of the Maine Historical Society
is gone. John Merrick, Esq., died in Hallowell, on the
22d of October, 1861, at the full age of ninety-five years.
Few of the original members of this society now remain,
and none of equal age with the deceased.
Venerable in years, in person, and in character, long
identified with the cause of learning and science among us,
and deeply interested in every plan and enterprise for the
development of the resources, and for the promotion of the
growth and prosperity of this state,-Mr Merrick will not
soon be forgotten, nor his influence cease to be felt in this
community. Had he not survived the generation with
whom the most active years of his life were spent, had he
been stricken down in the midst of his work, and while his
associates were busy at his side, his immediate loss might
have been more generally and sensibly felt. This is one
of the disadvantages incident to a life prolonged to extreme
old age. A man thus outlives his contemporaries, those
who saw' and felt and could best appreciate the value of
his labors. He is gradually withdrawn from public activity




380             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
and public notice; others take his place on the great
arena of life, and he is reserved more and more for his
immediate personal friends. Their esteem, xegard, and
love may increase with his increasing years. He may
become to them an object of veneration,-almost a sacred
thing. But the public generally will be absorbed in its
own present interests and activities, and will chiefly restrict
its thoughts and its regards to those who are immediately
connected with and concerned in them. But, though the
eye witnesses and associates of Mr. Merrick's public career
have mostly passed away,. though the hearts that used to
be moved and quickened and exhilarated by the magic
vigor of his word and the silent power of his life have
mostly ceased to beat, though his labors have lost the
freshness of present and passing things, yet so much the
more surely has his life acquired something of the value
and dignity of history; and this society owes it to itself
and to the state to place on record among its acts a
memorial of a man so distinguished and meritorious. Mr.
Merrick was unquestionably a man of mark; and, though
not a native of Maine or of America, few men have been so
long, so intimately, or so efficiently connected with the
interests and history of this, his adopted state.
Mr. John Merrick was born in London, the 27th of
August, 1766. His father, Samuel Merrick, was born in
1726, and died in September, 1767. The family is of Welsh
origin, and can be traced back to Cydavael, Ignad or
judge of the court of Powys in the time of King John. A
descendant of his, named Meuric, was esquire of the body
to Henry VII., and captain in the guard to Henry VIII.
With him the name originated, which is variously written
Meuric, Meurick, Meyrick, Meric, Merick, and Merrick. A
grandson of this Meuric, and an ancestor of our John
Merrick, was Sir Gelly Meyric or Meric, of Pembroke,
knight of the shire in the reign of Elizabeth, who was




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            381
executed in 1601 on a charge of treasonable conspiracy
with the Earl of Essex. His children were afterwards
restored in blood, and Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, of Goodrich Court, lately deceased, author of a well-known
sumptuous and magnificent work on Ancient Armor, was
his lineal descendant.
Our John Merrick, as will be seen from what we have
said, lost his father when he was but a little more than a
year old. His mother, Mary, in 1769, married Mr. William
Roberts, of Kidderminster. Here, under the roof of his
father-in-law, who was a deacon in a dissenting congregation, and seems to have been a worthy man and a good
citizen, he and his elder brother Samuel, received their
early training. Samuel, being of a stout frame and robust
constitution, was educated a merchant. But John, who
was of a lighter make, and apparently of a feebler constitution, and who always looked up to his stalwart brother
with a kind of boyish reverence, was destined to the
ministry. It is a remarkable fact, however, showing that
early prognostications are not always verified, that the puny
boy lived to an extraordinary age, surviving his athletic
elder brother nearly fifty years.
Mr. Merrick was eight years in the Grammar School,
connected with the Established Church, at Kidderminster,
where he received his classical training,-being much more
thoroughly drilled in the elements and principles of the
classical languages than is common either in the academies
or colleges of this country, spending years in doing what,
under our modern American steam processes of education,
is done,-so far as it is done at all,-in a few months or
days. But the habits of accuracy and thoroughness thus
acquired were of inestimable value. In his old age, he
remembered with lively affection the school-house of his
boyhood; and had not the ancient structure been renovated
and transformed by modern improvements, he might have




382             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
been tempted to revisit England in the later years of his
life, had it been only to see once more those scenes of his
boyish years and sports and studies.
About the year 1788 or 1789, he entered upon the study
of divinity at Daventry, where there was a dissenting
academy for theological training. The celebrated Thomas
Belsham was then at the head of this school. It was
during Mr. Merrick's connection with it, that Mr. Belsham
changed his views, and from being a high Calvinist, became
an avowed Unitarian of the school of Priestly. He
immediately resigned his place, and removed to take charge
of Hackney College, a Unitarian Seminary, whither Mr.
Merrick followed him, continuing for some time longer,
not connected with his seminary, but under his personal
influence. Whether, in this theological movement at
Daventry, the pupils or the teacher took the lead, or
whether it proceeded from a common impulse, it is not easy
to say. Certain it is that Mr. Merrick's mind was strongly
influenced by Belsham; and, whatever changes his theological views may subsequently have undergone, he always
retained a very high personal respect and regard for his
early teacher.
Having finished his divinity studies, he preached as a
licentiate for two years, at Stamford, but was never ordained.
Then, from 1794 to 1797, he became an inmate, in the
capacity of tutor, in the family of the late Benjamin
Vaughan, LL. D., at first in England, and then, in 1795,
accompanying them to this country. A gentleman who
spent his school vacation with Dr. Vaughan's boys at
Little Cambridge, now Brighton, speaks of having still "a
"vivid recollection of the animation Mr. Merrick gave to
"our sports. The tutor was laid aside, and he entered into
"them with a zest as if he had been a boy himself, and we
"felt our pleasure increased by his sympathy and his
"superior skill." This trait was characteristic. He
showed, even to his latest years, a peculiar disposition




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            383
and aptness to sympathize in the spirit and sports of
boyhood.
During this period he used not unfrequently to preach at
various places in Boston and its vicinity, and particularly
at the stone chapel, which was then under the charge of
the Rev. Dr. Freeman. But, though his style is said to
have been good, his language at times very forcible, and
his delivery uncommonly excellent, yet, for some reason or
other not easily explained,-perhaps because he felt the
want of the inward vocation, or because he was conscious
of an uncomfortable wavering in his religious sentiments,he soon relinquished the clerical profession altogether.
In 1797, Mr. Merrick returned to England, where, in
April, 1798, he married Rebecca Vaughan, daughter of
Samuel Vaughan, Esq., of London, and sister of our Dr.
Benjamin Vaughan. In May of the same year he came
back to this country, bringing Mrs. Merrick with him, and
settled at once in Hallowell, occcupying at first a small
house in the lower street, whence he soon removed to a
little farm cottage, which is still standing near his late
residence. At this period the tide of population and
improvement began to make rapid advances in the Kennebec country. The settlement of the Vaughan family at
Hallowell, and the removal to that town, in 1794, of the
sessions of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts,
which then always sat in full bench, and whose sessions,
anywhere east of Portland, were a great event, gave an
extraordinary impulse to the social development of the
place. At the time of Mr. Merrick's arrival, however, the
villages on the Kennebec River were but insignificant knots
of houses gathered around a store or two, and a tavern,
while the face of the whole country, its farm houses, roads,
clearings and agricultural improvements, presented still a
rude and wild aspect in comparison with the present state
of things. The whole town of Hallowell, which then
included what are now the cities of Augusta and Hallowell,




384             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
the towns of Kennebec and Chelsea, and a part of Farmingdale, contained only about two thousand inhabitants,
though the number was nearly doubled between the census
of 1790 and that of 1800, being raised from less than
eleven hundred to twenty-two hundred. When Mr. Merrick came to Hallowell there were but six houses in the
lower village. Up the hills from the river the roads were
scarcely practicable for a chaise, and the river itself was
still the great thoroughfare for communication between the
villages along its banks.
The Hon. Robert H. Gardiner, who, but for his own
advanced years, would have presented the society with
a fitting memoir of Mr. Merrick, instead of this imperfect
sketch, has furnished the writer with an anecdote at once
highly illustrative of the primitive condition of things in
those times, and strikingly characteristic of Mr. Merrick
himself.
"When I resided with my father on the east side of the
"river, Mr. Merrick would bring Mrs. M. and his eldest
"child, Harriet, then an infant in her mother's arms, in his
"birch canoe, to dine with us. This mode of visiting, so en"tirely different from what he had been accustomed to in
" England, struck his fancy; and with a square-sail and a top"sail made of the thinnest cloth, and with the halyards in his
"hands, that the sails might be lowered instantly at the first
"threatening of a flaw of wind, the canoe would fly with
"almost the swiftness of a bird; and the skill with which he
"managed his paddle enabled him to get back without
"fatigue." These voyages were continued until the child,
by her independent motions, began to disturb the equilibrium of the delicate craft, and thus endanger the life of the
party.
* The lower village was called "the Hook," and the upper village
"the Fort." About the time of Mr. Merrick's arrival the town was
divided, " the Fort," or upper portion, being incorporated at first
under the name of Harrington, and then of Augusta.




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            385
Mr. Merrick had no sooner come into the country and
provided a suitable dwelling for his family, a neat and
commodious cottage, commanding a fine view of the Kennebec River and its banks, the building of which he
superintended himself,-than he was found among the
foremost in every plan and agency for the promotion of
the public good. He particularly interested himself in the
cause of popular and of higher education. In 1802 he
became a trustee of Hallowell Academy, which had been
incorporated only a few years, and was then an important
institution, being the second incorporated academy in
Maine, that at Berwick having been the first. Such an
office is too often a sinecure; but not so with Mr. Merrick.
He exerted himself in enlarging and husbanding the
resources of the institution, in securing the best instruction,
in aiding and encouraging the preceptors, in attending
examinations, and in stimulating the intellectual energies
and the manlier and finer feelings of the students, by his
instructive, exciting, and genial exhortations. He was
made President of the Board of Trustees in 1829, and
continued in this post until his decease.
He was elected to the Board of Overseers of Bowdoin
College in 1805, and the honorary degree of A. M. was
conferred on him in 1807. He attended the first commencement of the college in 1806, a commencement which,
for the number of distinguished visitors, for the crowd of
people, and for the general excitement and eclat of the
occasion, has not been exceeded, probably, by any subsequent commencement at Brunswick, notwithstanding the
great growth and progress of the college. He continued
a prompt and efficient member of the Board of Overseers until 1851, when he resigned, having then been for
eleven years the oldest member of that board in official
standing.
Mr. Merrick never ceased to regret the transformation of
the college, from its original and catholic character of a
49




386             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
general state institution, to that of a school under the
exclusive control of a particular religious denomination.
Being possessed of a competency, not choosing to devote
his life and energies to the great end of money-getting, and
conscientiously abstaining from an active participation in
politics, except the casting of an honest vote, Mr. Merrick
was not driven to work either by necessity, cupidity or
ambition, and consequently had more leisure than most
men around him. But he was not an idler. He made
himself useful as a citizen. He sought in a great variety
of ways to promote the physical and moral well-being of
the community. He held from    time to time several
municipal offices. He was for many years first selectman
of the town; and again several times surveyor of highways,
in which offices he executed his trusts most faithfully,
devoting much of his time to their duties, greatly to the
advantage of the business and the roads of the town, both
at that time, and, as an example of excellent judgment and
inflexible uprightness, for subsequent times, also. As one
of the overseers of the poor, an office to which he was
annually elected for a series of ten years, he will be long
and gratefully remembered. He shrunk from none of the
duties of that troublesome office, and, while he exercised
judgment and discrimination as to lazy idlers who preferred support from the public to working for their own
living, and jealously protected the interests of the town
against foreign encroachments, he was ever kind and
considerate to those who were brought by infirmity to seek
public aid. He had so fully the confidence of the town,
that he was authorized to lend money to persons in
temporary trouble, which might be returned, and the pride
of the poor saved. Many families were thus relieved, and
nothing ever publicly known about their cases.
In November, 1809, was held at Augusta one of the most
important and exciting trials that have occurred in the
history of Maine. It was reported in short-hand by Mr.




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            387
Merrick. Perhaps there was scarcely another man in the
state who at that time could have performed the feat.
The art of short-hand was one of his early acquirements.
He had learned it while under the charge of his father-inlaw, at the age of eight or nine years, and had been then
accustomed, in imitation of good Mr. Roberts, to make an
analysis of the sermons he heard on Sundays. The report
of this trial was published in an octavo volume of one
hundred and eighty-eight pages closely printed, under the
following title: "Trial of David Lynn, Jabez Meigs, Elijah
"Barton, Prince Cain, Nathaniel Lynn, Ansel Meigs, and
"Adam Pitts, for the murder of Paul Chadwick, at Malta
"in Maine, on September 8, 1809, before the Hon. Theo"dore Sedgwick, LL. D., Hon. Samuel Sewall, LL. D., Hon.
"George Thatcher, Hon. Isaac Parker, Justices of the
"Supreme Judicial Court held at Augusta, by adjournment,
"November 16, 1809. Taken in short-hand by John
"Merrick, Esq. Hallowell, &c., January, 1810."  For
accuracy and fullness this report is a masterpiece.
The case was in substance a resistance of squatters
against the rights of proprietors. A party of persons disguised as Indians had most atrociously murdered a man
who was assisting a surveyor in running certain boundary
lines. The persons on trial were charged with having been
of that party. An attempt had been made or threatened
to rescue them from the Augusta jail while they were
awaiting their trial; the militia had been under arms to
guard the jail, and the whole neighboring community was
in a state of extraordinary excitement. The evidence
against the accused, including their own confessions, would
seem to have been overwhelming; yet such was the skill of
their counsel, Wilde and Mellen, and so great was the
sympathy of the jury with the popular feeling, that, after
being out two days, they returned a verdict of Not guilty.
An important consideration with many of them seems to
have been, that they thought it hard that seven men should




388             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
be hung for being concerned in killing one. Mr. Merrick
was astounded with the verdict and so were the justices
who tried the case, and the parties themselves who were
thus acquitted. But, however it may afterwards have been
with the consciences or character of the jury who rendered
the verdict, the results of the trial seem to have been overruled for good. The majesty of the government was
vindicated, for the accused had been brought to solemn
trial, and seen themselves in full view of the gallows. None
ventured to follow their example. The very name of Malta
was felt to be an opprobrium, and was soon afterwards
exchanged for another.
Mr. Merrick liked much to refer to this trial to show the
effect of a shock on a man's character. One of the party
rescued from the gallows, from that hour was a changed
man; became as well known for his quiet, orderly conduct,
as before he had been for the reverse. He "joined the
"church," and took a strong interest and an active part in
its proceedings and meetings. It is believed that others of
the party were reformed, and none of them is known to
have been guilty of any subsequent violation of law.
Those were coarse, rough, stormy days, as all pioneers find
their days. Every man being called upon to defend his
rights, became as violent in defence of his wrongs as of his
rights.
Mr. Merrick used to relate the following incident. He
was on horseback years after in what had been Malta, when
he rode up to an old pedestrian, and, as he always made
the most of such opportunities, fell into a discourse with
the man, on old times, who spoke in high terms of Chadwick, and went on giving a graphic description of the state
of society in those days, adding this account of himself. He
was brought up by his father to tell the truth, and make
the truth his guide and counsellor. "If the truth
"can't serve you, nothing can," was the point on which all
his moral training hinged.




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            389
Being from his cradle intimate with one of the Barton
party, he endeavored, just before the murder, to detach
his friend from a bad acquaintance with a wicked young
man who was talented and popular, but without success.
It grieved him deeply, and he used the strongest arguments-"IHe is a villain, and will bring you to mischief,
"perhaps to the gallows." One night at a large husking
party in a barn, he had an ear of corn thrown at his head,
presently another and another. He found they came from
all parts of the barn,, and called for an explanation. The
young man who had excited his fears for his friend's safety,
told him he could tell him a little about it, and accused
him of warning his friend against him, because, "if the
"acquaintance continued, he would get him into trouble."
"Now," said the old man, "I was scared; I thought I was
"in for a thrashing before I reached home." He was on
the point of denying the whole story, and giving his friend
the lie, when his father's old maxim came into his mind,
"if the truth can't serve you, nothing can." Before his
resolution failed, he sprang to his feet, saying, so that
everyone in the barn should distinctly hear, "I said no
"such thing, Jabez Meigs! no such thing! I said, if he
"continued your acquaintance you would bring him to the
"gallows." Then sat down and continued his work. The
young man was abashed, and soon slunk out of the barn
and disappeared. Eventually he was so shunned that he
was obliged to quit the place.
A project having been started for opening a road from
the Kennebec to the Chaudiere and thence to Quebec,
which, it was thought, would greatly increase the business
of this region, and open an important avenue from the
Atlantic Ocean to Canada, Mr. Merrick warmly entered
into the plan, and, under a resolve of the General Court of
Massachusetts, he was appointed, in March, 1810, on a
commission to examine its feasibility. The first commission was issued by Governor Gore, under date of March 8,




390             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
1810, to Lothrop Lewis, of Gorham, Joshua Cushman, of
Winslow, and John Merrick, of Hallowell, Esquires. It
appears that subsequently the Hon. Charles Turner, of
Scituate, then a member of Congress, and James Stackpole,
Jr., Esq., of Waterville, were substituted for Messrs. Lewis
and Cushman. Mr. Merrick's private journal of this
expedition, if indeed such a journal ever existed, is unfortunately lost; and the report to the governor, which, it
appears, was drawn up by Mr. Merrick, with plans, &c.,
has not been obtained. The following notice in relation to
it is furnished by Mr. Gardiner:
"My father gave Mr. Merrick a letter of introduction to
"Sir James Craig, Governor of Canada, with whom he had
"been formerly acquainted. The Governor received him
" courteously, and highly approved the object; and, through
"his influence, that portion of the road lying in Canada
"was completed; and the State of Massachusetts had the
"road made from the forks of the Kennebec River to the
"Canada line. A mail was established on the route, and
"a custom house on the boundary. The advantages ex"pected from the opening of this road were not realized.
"The road for a long distance passed through a barren
"country. There was a distance of forty miles with only a
"single house, and no soil sufficiently good to tempt any one
"to build a second. Few persons, either for pleasure or for
"traffic, would go over a road where in case of accident aid
"could not be obtained. And the railroads which have
"been since constructed through Vermont and Maine to
"Canada, have given to the Canadians much greater facili"ties to the ports on the Atlantic than could be obtained
"by a road through the wilderness."
Several incidents of the expedition have been gleaned
from recollections of Mr. Merrick's conversations, and from
the Hon. Mr. Turner's letters.
Those were simple days when bribery and corruption
were not so rife as at present. Seven hundred dollars was




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            391
the enormous sum to be divided among the party, three
commissioners, one surveyor, and an Indian guide. The
commissioners also took with them several hands to carry
provisions, instruments, &c,, and Mr. Merrick took a young
man by the name of David Morgan as his private
attendant. After leaving the Kennebec the party camped
out at night. Mr. Merrick always cut a piece of bark to
serve as an umbrella when a shower threatened; then cut
boughs for his bed, and washed his stockings each night,
keeping two pair in use, and alternating between them
from day to day, to preserve his feet in walking.
When they reached the Canada line, the two other
commissioners, alleging that they had completed the work
assigned them by the General Court, took the surveyor,
the assistants, and the provisions with them, and returned,
leaving Mr. Merrick, with Morgan and the Indian guide,
and a small modicum of provisions, to go on to Quebec,
assuring him that he need take no food with him for his
return through the wilderness, as they would deposit an
abundant supply on the way. Arrived at Quebec, the
Governor invited him to dine, and ride with the ladies to
Montmorenci. For a catastrophe so unexpected he was
quite unprepared, being only in his rough camping dress,
fresh from the woods. So he called on a French house
to put him in trim, suggesting a white shirt at which
Monsieur shrugged,-a collar and bosom were all the case
required. At the shoemaker's he had to wait a while for
his half-boots, and beguiled the time with a talk, getting
the following method of keeping the frost out: "A traveller
"on horseback called at a ferry-house on the St. Lawrence,
"and was told it was impossible to cross on account of the
"running ice. His case being urgent, he offered such a
"bribe the man was induced to make the attempt. They
"proceeded with increasing difficulty to the middle of the
"river, when the boat stuck fast. To return was as
"impossible as to proceed. Between them they contrived




392             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"this plan: Both took off their outer coats; laying one at
"the bottom of the boat, they lay down front to front;
"each unbuttoning the vest and taking the feet of the
"other within, again buttoned all up snug; then they
"placed the other coat over all, and, like St. Paul's com"panions in critical circumstances,'wished for day.' They
"did not wait in vain, but, by the time the ice was
"sufficiently strong to allow them to walk to the shore, the
"horse was dead and frozen, while neither of the more
"thin-skinned animals had a frostbite."
After a week in Quebec, business being in train, the
three again took to the bush. But, on reaching the place
of the promised deposit, they found to their consternation,
that no provisions had been left for them, which, Mr.
states, was owing to the meanness and inhumanity of
who insisted that, the provisions belonging to the
state, they had no right to leave them behind, although it
cost more than twice as much to bring them off as their
intrinsic value. Mr.     adds that     even grudged
(professedly in behalf of the state,) the pittance of food
which Mr. Merrick and his companions had taken for
their journey to Quebec. As it was, a few cakes of portable
soup and a few beans were all their store for a tramp of
several days through the wilderness. The Indian left soon
after, refusing to touch a particle of their scanty supply.
"No, no, give me the fish-hook; me Indian."  So, in oonsideration of his own superior resources in difficult
circumstances, he had pity for the poor white man. Surely
this conduct of the Indian contrasts favorably with that of
one of the honorable commissioners, and should be remembered to the credit of a despised race.
In the course of the expedition Mr. Merrick met also with
a striking illustration of the intelligence of the Indians, as
exhibited not only in picture-writing, but in the shrewd
interpretation of hieroglyphic figures. Drawn with charcoal on a chip cut from a spruce tree, and wedged firmly




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            393
into the top of a stake, in which also hung a bag of dried
beans, he had seen a representation of a birch canoe,
containing two Indians in an attitude of great exertion,
bundles of baggage, a squaw with a pappoose, and over
all a bird on the wing. Mr. Merrick soon after described
this to an Indian pilot, as he was passing the St. Lawrence,
and asked him the meaning of what he had seen. His
answer was, that the Indians call it a Wickheegan, or
Awickheegan, and that it must have been left by a party of
Indians for the information of their friends. Among other
points explained, he said:
1. The attitude of exertion showed that the party were
going up stream.
2. It consisted of two men, a woman, and a child.
3. They intended to remain during the whole period
allotted by Indians to the kind of hunting which was then
in season, because they had all their furniture and family
in the canoe.
4. Concerning the bird, the pilot was very particular in
his inquiries. At length he was satisfied that it was a loon.
"That bird," said he "expressed the intention of the party
"to go to the place agreed upon without stopping anywhere
"before they arrived, as the loon, from the shortness of its
"legs, walking with great difficulty, never alighted on its
" way."
In passing, Mr. Merrick had taken a few beans from the
bag in exchange for some hard bread, an exchange which
he thought would be agreeable to all parties.
On this journey Mr. Merrick was absent six weeks,
during which he camped out twenty-one nights, seventeen
of which it rained. Yet, though in a delicate state of health
when he started, he returned with greatly improved health
and strength.
After the failure of the original Hallowell and Augusta
Bank, another bank was incorporated at Hallowell under
the same unfortunate name; and Mr. Merrick, being then
50




394             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
desirous of the regular employment of some daily routine
of business, accepted the post of cashier, which he filled
honorably to himself, and greatly to the benefit and credit
of the corporation, until, overwhelmed by the bankruptcy
of others, the institution succumbed in 1821. He was
afterwards employed a year or two in settling its accounts.
The township of Dover, in Piscataquis County, was,
among other wild lands, a part of the Vaughan patrimony
in this state. That portion of the township which remained
unsold or unpaid for,-and which was the greater part of
it,-was, about the year 1830, accepted and taken by Mr.
Merrick in settlement of his wife's claims upon her father's
estate. He immediately assumed in person the care of
these lands, and he managed them with singular judgment
and great consideration for the settlers. He spent two or
three weeks every summer, and sometimes a portion of the
winter, among them, and made himself personally acquainted with the circumstances, character and ability of
each individual. In his business relations with them he
was, as in everything else, strictly upright and just; and,
though he knew, and when necessary, could maintain his
rights, which were sometimes attempted to be invaded, he
was ever ready to give judicious and generous indulgence
to those who, from adverse circumstances, were unable to
meet their engagements. While thus kindly consulting the
interests of the settlers, he, in fact, realized more from the
township than if, like some other proprietors, he had
rigorously exacted every payment as it became due, or
peremptorily foreclosed the mortgages.
He especially interested himself in fostering the schools,
and improving the roads of the rising town. Feeling that
upon him there was a moral obligation to provide also for
the spiritual wants of the settlers, he built and neatly furnished at his own expense, (some fifteen hundred dollars,)
a house for public worship. His observation had satisfied
him that "Union Meeting Houses," to be used in common




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.              395
or in turn by different denominations of christians, were
constant sources of strife and discord. He determined,
therefore, to appropriate this to a single denomination,
and, with a truly catholic spirit, putting aside his own
preferences,-for he was at that time a professed Unitarian,-he deeded it to the Methodists, as embracing the
largest portion of the inhabitants in the vicinity, and being,
in his opinion, well adapted to the character and wants of
such a community.*
From 1830 to 1840 he acted as attorney for owners of
wild lands in the town of Harmony, and there carried his
usual system of order and method into the management of
the business.
He continued to attend to the business at Dover until
within three or four years of his death, when nearly all lots
of any value were sold and paid for. He had the happiness
of seeing the town rapidly advance in prosperity, and
become the shire-town of Piscataquis County. In the
settlement of this town he has incorporated his name into
the history of Maine. His venerable form will not soon be
forgotten by many who used to welcome his annual visits
as among the greatest events of the year. By his thorough
education, his refined tastes, his high intellectual and
social culture, he belonged to a different sphere from most
of those with whom he had intercourse in these visits; yet
he always conversed and mingled with them all as their
neighbor and equal. There was nothing assuming or
haughty in his manner. He was perfectly easy and familiar
with every one, yet never lost his dignity, never ceased to
be Mr. Merrick. His memory will be cherished by the
people generally, as that of an honest man, a liberal land* Mr. Merrick used to express some vexation that, soon after this
act of liberality, at the request of the people, he asked the Methodist
Bishop, at the Annual Conference, to station a certain preacher
there for the coming year, for which he gave excellent reasons; but
no notice whatever was taken of his request.




396             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
lord, a judicious adviser, a kind friend, and a public
benefactor. It is a slight but significant indication of the
popular feeling, that the new building in the town used for
the village lyceum, is called JIerrick Hall.
In July, 1851, Mrs. Merrick died; and from that time, as
indeed for some years before, Mr. Merrick withdrew very
much from public life and general society, and gave his
thoughts increasingly to religious meditations. As the
infirmities of age grew upon him, it was found advisable to
seek a milder climate than that of Maine for a large portion
of the year, and for several years before his death, he spent
the months from October to June in Philadelphia, with his
daughter Harriet, Mrs. J. A. Vaughan. Here, too, he was
near his eldest son, a son who honors his father by his
character and his deeds, Samuel Vaughan Merrick,-who,
by persevering with energy and skill in the business of
constructing machinery, has acquired a large property;
and who, by his practical science, his business tact and
great administrative ability, his enlightened views, his
unwavering integrity and large public spirit, has placed
himself among the most prominent and eminent men in
that great city. Here Mr. Merrick was widely remarked
and recognized, with his erect form, his agile step, and his
long, white, flowing locks, as a beautiful specimen of old
age, so that even artists sought for his bust and his portrait
to grace their studios.
Having passed the summer months of 1861 in Hallowell,
with his daughter Mary, Mrs. J. P. Flagg, he had already
fixed the day, early in October, for his return to Philadelphia, when he was seized with his last illness, and died on
the 22d of the month.
But, after all, this dry sketch of outward facts can give
but a faint idea of the man.
Mr. Merrick had a genuine scientific impulse. But his
special interest was with those sciences which can be most




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            397
readily applied to practical life, or to the elucidation or
confirmation of religious truth. He examined and defended
Hadley's claims in connection with the quadrant. He
invented a new practical method by which everyone can
map out the heavens for himself. He was one of the first
in this country who detected the planet Uranus with the
naked eye. He made himself a good practical surveyor
and even navigator, though merely as an amateur. He
was an exact mathematician, and fathomed the mysteries
of the Geocentric Latitude, for the purpose of correcting
the running of extensive lines of boundary by astronomical
observations. He spent a number of cold evenings with
his friend, Mr. Gardiner, in endeavoring to obtain a true
meridian from the polar star.
For the late Professor Cleaveland, of Bowdoin College,
he formed a strong personal attachment, and exerted himself with earnestness and success in interesting the public
in the admirable courses of popular chemical lectures which
the professor gave in several towns and cities, in the early
part of his academical career. He used afterwards not
unfrequently to visit Brunswick, for the purpose of
conferring with the professor on questions in geology, and
hearing his lectures on that subject. His interest in
geology amounted at times to a passion. He even prepared
two admirable geological lectures, which he read to his
friends and to select audiences, and delivered by special
request at the Hallowell Lyceum, greatly to the satisfaction
of all who heard them. He was a great friend of lyceums
-as domestic institutions, not as theatres for the exhibition
of foreign and paid lecturers. He was prominently
instrumental in founding and fostering that at Hallowell,
and opened it with an introductory lecture. In natural
history, in general, he found great attractions. He strongly
recommended it to the attention of the young, and was
himself uncommonly well versed in all its branches. He
early suspected something wrong in Dr. Kock's famous




398             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Hydrarchos Sillimanni, and busied himself successfully in
exposing the imposition. It was one of his special gratifications, while in Philadelphia, to escort his friends through
the magnificent museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences; and perhaps a more universally learned and critical
scientific cicerone could scarcely be anywhere found.
Though educated himself for a clergyman, he always
took a special interest in men of the legal and medical
professions. The learning and wit that characterize the
former were their great source of attraction, and he never
enjoyed himself more highly than in the society of such
men as Justices Parsons, Thatcher, Wilde, and Mellen.
With the medical profession his practical tendencies and
benevolent feelings found scope and employment. He had
a thorough knowledge of anatomy, and, when occasion
required, proved no indifferent surgeon.
In music he had an exquisite taste, and a very fine ear.
The first talent cultivated was his musical one. The
person under whose charge he was placed at the time of
his mother's marriage, taught him to sing the Nativity
through, (a difficult feat for an older person,) and several
other pieces. This was in early life a great source of
pleasure, giving him a leading part in glee clubs and other
musical entertainments, and ultimately a source of still
more substantial benefit, for he was accustomed to say in
later years that singing had saved his life,-by strengthening his lungs, which were naturally weak. He played the
violoncello with extraordinary neatness, accuracy, and
depth of tone, and until quite late in life, he sung with
great sweetness. His knowledge of music was scientific;
and for many years he was President of the Handel
Society of Maine. In 1817, in connection with the late
Chief Justice Mellen, who was vice-president of the society,
he compiled a book of sacred music, which was published
under the title of the "Hallowell Collection of Sacred
"Music," arranged for use in churches and families, and




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            399
well adapted for the purpose. It was due mainly to his
strenuous efforts and intelligent guidance that the choir of
the Old South Church in Hallowell became one of the most
effective choirs in the country. At an early period he
devoted much time to instructing the choir of the Gardiner
church in chanting, and for a number of successive years he
used to go down two evenings a week before Christmas for
that purpose. As they had some fine voices the consequence was, that, under his instruction, they had better
chanting there than is often found with the best trained
choirs of city churches. He did not hide his light under a
bushel.
His own elocution was remarkably perfect, and he was
accustomed to make a great point-and rightly-of
inculcating the importance of this art upon all young
persons, and especially upon young clergymen. Many
will ever remember his hints and admonitions with gratitude. So masterly was his style of reading, that persons
have been known, after a lapse of thirty or forty years, to
refer to their having heard him read a hymn with a beauty
and a pathos such as they had never heard with a hymn
before or since.
In nothing did he excel more than in the attractiveness
of his social character, and in his fascinating powers of
conversation. His memory was richly stored and ready.
His words were well chosen. His wit was pointed; his
sense of the ludicrous and comical quick and keen; his
power of ridicule irresistible, his sarcasm withering. But
under it all ran an inexhaustible vein of droll, quiet humor,
with a fund of benevolent sensibility, a readiness of
sympathy, and a kindness of appreciation, which rendered
even his most dreaded satire almost a pleasure. His
conversation was remarkably suggestive, and he had a
peculiarly quick insight into the minds and characters of
others. His personal attachtnents were strong, and to the
friends of his earlier years in this country, he clung to the




400            BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
last with a singular tenacity and warmth of affection.
Even under the infirmities of extreme old age, in his annual
migrations between Hallowell and Philadelphia, he would
insist, in passing through Boston, upon going around, even
at the risk of his life, and calling on all his old friends.
He was distinguished by a habit of constant observation
and inquiry. In his frequent and various journeys he
always preferred either to ride on horseback, or in an open
vehicle, and used critically to examine everything within
his reach as he passed along. He made acquaintance with
everyone he met, man, woman, or child, from whom he
could learn anything, and he never failed to repay them by
communicating more than he received. Probably no man
in Maine was more minutely and accurately acquainted
with its topographical and geological characters, with its
roads and streams, its lakes and mountains.
One of the most characteristic and delightful powers
which he possessed was that of dropping hints to the
young, so pointed that they never failed to find a lodgment.
They were like leaven thrown into any measure of meal
that offered. One day he saw a boy kick a hole through
his kite in a passion. The case was intelligible. The boy
had spent his half-holidays making his kite, and his spare
cash in the purchase of twine and other materials, all of
which seemed a dead loss. "Had not you better kick the
"boy for not understanding the business of kite-making?"
asked he dryly, then stopped and drove the lesson home by
showing how to balance the kite, &c. This boy left
Hallowell for thirty years, and the other day told a friend,
on a visit to his old home, that he had never been in a
passion since without thinking the boy deserved a kicking.
Many is the man that will still recur with pleasure to the
hints he thus received from Mr. Merrick in his boyhood;
and much of their force lay in his quick sense of ridicule,
and in the genuine kindness which was always shown in
the winding up of the interview.




JOHN MERRICK, ESQ.            401
His habits of business, whether as cashier of a bank, as
a municipal officer, or as a proprietary, were always prompt,
methodical, and thorough. It was not easy to impose
upon him, and yet he had no law suits. He had a horror
of litigation; and when the son of a dear friend of his
applied to him once for a recommendation, with a view to
establish himself as a lawyer in Dover, he refused it,
believing it to be for the interest of the new settlers to live
without a lawyer as long as possible.
Of usury and speculation he had a kind of superstitious
abhorrence. He was sure they would be visited with a
Providential retribution which would fully meet the
demands even of poetic justice. His notions of honesty
were almost romantic, and his sense of honor intensely
delicate. If any dispute in the town was to be submitted
to arbitration, Mr. Merrick was the first to be selected as
umpire by both palties. His leading ethical traits were
integrity, benevolence, enterprise, and public spirit. But
nothing did he more heartily enjoy than to perform the
office of peacemaker among his friends and neighbors.
He never harbored malice himself, and he sought, whenever
he had an opportunity, to banish it from the minds of
others.
His kindness and liberality were bounded only by his
means. As "God blessed his latter end more than his
"beginning," his handfuls were more and more freely
thrown abroad. His last earthly care was for a poor
Irishman who had lived with him when his children were
in their cradles, and who married the girl in charge of them.
It troubled him for some hours from inability to make
himself understood, but on being reminded that a five
dollar bill was appropriated for the poor man's wood when
the snow came, he dismissed the subject with an expression
of satisfaction.
It was characteristic of Mr. Merrick that, whatever he
undertook, he made it a point to do it as well as it could
51




402             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
possibly be done. Though of a slender frame, he excelled
in many forms of physical and even of athletic exercise.
He was an inimitable skater and swimmer, an admirable
horseman, and an expert driver. If he paddled a birch
canoe, no Indian could do it better. If he danced, no
Frenchman could excel him. If he read aloud, it was
perfect. If he sang, it was exquisite. If he played an
instrument, no professor of music could exhibit a more
easy and masterly execution. If he addressed a company
of boys, he not only entranced them in pleasure for the
moment by his eccentric humor and quaint illustrations,
but he contrived to inject into their minds something of
value to remember and thank him for as long as they lived.
In short, whether he told a humorous story, suggested a
useful hint, insinuated a compliment, let fall a satirical
squib, or uttered a jest, he left nothing to be added or
improved. Every movement, every word, every action, was
graceful and finished.
Of his religious history and character this is not the
place to speak particularly. His was a singularly pure
life. In his later years his religious character developed
and ripened gradually but beautifully. He was a strikingly
humble and earnest, a devout and growing christian. Any
christian denomination may be prond to claim him as
their own. But perhaps it is proper merely to add that,
while in Philadelphia, he was a constant attendant at the
Presbyterian Church under the charge of the Rev. Dr.
Jenkins, and there he very devoutly and constantly received
the communion whenever it was administered.
Mr. Merrick's personal appearance was always striking,
but particularly in his later years. None ever saw him to
forget him; and none ever became intimately acquainted
with him without respecting and loving him. His was a
noble mind, a noble heart, and a noble life. His faults
were few, his enemies none.




NOTICE OF
ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.
BY RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.,
OF GARDINER.
THE family of Hallowell had for its first American
progenitor, William Hallowell, who, in 1650, removed from
the Plymouth Colony to Boston.*  His second son, Benjamin Hallowell, marrying Mary Stocker, was the father of
another Benjamin, who was born in 1699, and died in 1773,
a prominent citizen of Boston, a merchant and ship-owner,
the navy agent of the port, and a large proprietor in the
Kennebec purchase. He married Rebecca Briggs, and
had four sons, of whom the eldest was still another
Benjamin, and the second was Robert.
Benjamin, the third of that name, became the collector
of customs at Boston, and one of the commissioners of
customs for the colonies. In these capacities he was
naturally unpopular as the revolution drew on, and at
length his house was attacked, and he was driven for a
* This is a mistake. In my father's journal he states: "My
"father's family originated, I believe, in Devonshire, and, according
"to Savage, emigrated first to Connecticut; but from deeds which I
"once had in my possession, were settled in Boston before the
"close of the seventeenth century."-R. H. G.




404             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
time from Boston. When the British troops evacuated the
city, he went to England; but returning twenty years
afterwards to America, died in Canada, where he had a
grant of lands. One of his sons was Admiral Sir Benjamin
Hallowell, a distinguished officer, who commanded one of
the ships of the line under Nelson, at the battle of the Nile,
and presented him with a coffin made from the mast of the
ship which had borne the flag of the French admiral, and
had been blown up in the battle. Another son, Ward
Hallowell, on inheriting the estate of his maternal uncle,
Nicholas Boylston, took his names, and is numbered
amongst the benefactors of Harvard University.
Robert Hallowell, the second son of the Boston merchant
and navy agent, after holding the post of collector of
Portsmouth, succeeded his brother Benjamin in the
collectorship of Boston, when Benjamin became a commissioner of the customs. His remarkable urbanity and
gentleness of manners protected him from personal
animosity, even in the discharge of this very obnoxious
office, which he held at the time when the tea was destroyed
in the harbor, and when the port was closed by act of
parliament. After the evacuation of Boston by the British
forces, he also withdrew to the mother country, and
remained there till some time after the war, when he also
returned to be received with warm regard by his old
friends, and with respectful kindness by the public. His
latest days were spent in Maine, and he lies buried at
Gardiner, beneath the walls of Christ Church.
Mr. Robert Hallowell was married in January, 1772,
some weeks after the death of his father, to Hannah,
daughter of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner. That gentleman, a
native of Rhode Island, had received a fine medical
education abroad, and had afterwards associated with his
professional practice in Boston, a very extensive business
in drugs and medicines, so that he had accumulated a large
fortune. By his first wife, Anne Gibbons, daughter of Dr.




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         405
William Gibbons, he left two sons, John, a distinguished
lawyer, and William, and four daughters, of whom the
eldest married the Hon. Colonel Brown, son of the Earl of
Attamont, and brother of the Marquis of Sligo; the second
was Mrs. Hallowell; the third was Mrs. Philip Dumaresq,
and the fourth was the wife of Oliver Whipple, and the
mother of the late Mrs. Frederic Allen.
The name of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner must always be
held in grateful and reverential remembrance on the banks
of the Kennebec. He purchased from    the Plymouth
Company a very extensive tract, and, foreseeing that it
would be the foundation of a populous settlement, he
desired to invest it with the blessings which were nearest
to his own heart.
So far as was in his power, education, intelligence and
religion should be associated with the temporal prosperity
which he hoped to plant for a succeeding generation. His
plans were large, and he had the principles and spirit of a
high-minded and conscientious Englishman of that age.
In the course of the revolutionary war, Dr. Gardiner was
himself persuaded, though past the age of seventy, to leave
the country for England; but returned soon after the
peace, and died in 1786 at Newport. His possessions in
Massachusetts had been confiscated. Before those in
Maine could be subjected to the same process, the treaty
of peace and independence intervened, and the blow was
stayed. He owned not only the lands now included in the
town of Gardiner, but a considerable part of Hallowell, of
Augusta, of Chelsea, of Pittston, of.Dresden, and other
estates in Norridgewock, Winslow, Winthrop and Georgetown. Unprofitable as was this property, the estimate of
its value was, even then, $140,000, while it was still almost
a wilderness.
Upon this large-landed estate, after the confiscation of
his other wealth, Dr. Gardiner looked as a provision for
his sons, and hoped that it might continue the abode, and




406            BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
preserve the name of his family. To his eldest son, who,
in opposition to his views, both political and religious, was
a whig and an Arian, he bequeathed Swan Island, and the
lands in Pownalborough. To his second son, a man of
much less mark, he gave the residue of his estates in
Maine. His eldest daughter was married into a noble and
affluent family in Ireland. He provided, therefore, that in
the event of the decease of his second son, the property
bequeathed to him should pass to the then infant son of
his second daughter, Robert Hallowell.
At the time of the death of his maternal grandfather,
Robert Hallowell, the younger, was a child of four years
old. He was born on the 10th of February, 1782, at
Bristol, the temporary residence of his parents, in England,
and was the youngest of three children, the two older being
daughters. His father received a moderate pension from
the British government, and Bristol and its vicinity proved
a happy position for all the purposes of health and
education. The young daughters of Mr. Hallowell were
among the pupils at the establishment of the excellent
Hannah More and her sisters. The son enjoyed whatever
benefits belonged to the gently rigid discipline of clerical
teachers in England, until, still in his early boyhood, he
was removed with the rest of the family to America. The
allotment of Divine Providence had clearly designated his
future home, for his uncle, William Gardiner, had died in
the year after the death of Dr. Gardiner, and at the age of
five the little boy had become the heir to a noble landed
estate in Maine.
In February, 1792, therefore, when he was just ten years
old, he crossed the Atlantic with his parents, and they
resumed the family mansion in Boston, which, from regard
to the life estate of an aged lady, his paternal grandmother,
had escaped confiscation. His earliest American recollections were connected with the excitement of popular
feeling under the events of the French revolution. After a




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         407
few months in the public Latin School, then kept by a
person quite incompetent to the post, he was sent to
Phillips Academy at Andover. Of the instructor, Mr.
Pemberton, he always retained a most respectful remembrance. But the absurd rigor of manners in the
family where he boarded, and the coarse food and
accommodations to which -he had been unaccustomed,
affected his spirits and his delicate health to such a degree
that he was after a while withdrawn. So deep was the
impression received thus in his boyhood, that for many
years he avoided passing through Andover, and he could
hardly persuade himself, when at length he saw the spot,
that it had been in that pleasant town that he had suffered
so much.
His cousin, the Rev. John Sylvester John Gardiner, son
of his uncle John Gardiner, and at this time, as after, a
clergyman of Trinity Church, Boston, offered his services
to assist his classical studies. These services were exceedingly valuable, for he had been a pupil of Dr. Parr, in
England, and was one of the best classical scholars whom
our country has possessed. But the tutor had buoyant
spirits, and passed so easily from the lessons to the
shuttlecock, that Mr. Hallowell apprehended a neglect
which by no means existed, and his son afterwards felt
that he had sustained a loss in being separated from a
teacher really so invaluable.
He was next sent to the Derby Academy at Hingham,
where he remained till he left it for college. In that
period he lost his mother, and, less than three months
after, one of his sisters, both of consumption; and the
same disease, six years later, deprived him of his remaining
sister. The pious instructions of a most beloved mother,
taken from him at that stage in his life, and in such a
manner, never ceased to have a hold upon his heart. In
the mean time his own health was invigorated at Hingham
by habits of bold and active exercise.




408             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES,
At the commencement of Harvard University, in 1797,
being then fifteen years old, he became a member of the
college, under the presidency of Dr. Willard. His own
class contained few names of subsequent distinction, but
amongst his fellow-students in the course of four years,
were Channing, Story, Stephen Longfellow, Richard
Sullivan, Professor Cleaveland, Washington Allston,
Buckminster, Dr. Charles Lowell, Chief Justice Shaw,
Professor Frisbie, Levi Lincoln, Dr. Nichols, of Portland,
Dr. Payson, Judge Ware, Professor Farrar, and Professor
Andrews Norton. He formed a circle of intelligent
associates, and with one of his classmates maintained a
correspondence through the long space of sixty-three years.
Another of them  was the late Archdeacon Stuart, of
Kingston, in Upper Canada, who was accustomed to visit
him occasionally, even into old age. Another was Timothy
Fuller, afterwards a member of Congress, and the father of
the Countess D'Ossoli. Another, who was for some time
the room-mate of Robert Hallowell, was John Gorham,
afterwards Professor of Chemistry in Harvard University.
During the college course these two friends visited the
Kennebec together, and travelling eastward as far as
Thomaston, enjoyed for several days the profuse hospitality
of General Knox, at his baronial mansion.
The influence of the French infidelity was much felt in
educated society, and pervaded the college to an extent
which was remembered by many of the students with
much pain. It never entirely shook the principles of this
young man, but he often recurred to the unhappy state of
doubt into which many others were drawn, and which
could not but dimly affect even those who resisted its
control. The instruction of the students in divinity, a
relic of other times, was not such as to counteract the
danger with much effect.
At the College Commencement of 1801, at the age of
nineteen, he graduated, receiving the second of the allotted




ROBERT HA LLOWELL GARDINER.        409
"parts." His name was at once entered in the office of
the Hon. John Lowell, an eminent member of the bar.
But after a visit to the Kennebec he appeared so very
frail, and so liable to fall an early victim to the disease of
his mother and sisters, that he was advised to go abroad,
and travel till he should attain his majority. Embarking,
therefore, for England, he was soon domesticated, as it
were, amongst his kindred, both on the paternal and
maternal side, who were established in the mother country.
Of these, one considerable branch were the Vaughans, of
whom the eldest known to him, Mr. Samuel Vaughan, had
married the sister of Mr. Hallowell, his father. He was at
that time at Brighton, while one of his sons, William, had
an establishment in London. The father had been a West
India merchant and proprietor, a republican in principle,
and an intimate friend of Dr. Franklin. Most of the
family emigrated to America; and their marked character
and culture, and especially the social influence of Mr.
Benjamin Vaughan, who had held a seat in parliament,
contributed much to the early distinction of the town of
Hallowell, his residence, in intelligence and enterprise. A
daughter of Mr. Samuel Vaughan, Mrs. Derby, was then
also at Brighton with her daughter, who became the wife
of Chief Baron Pennefather, the eminent Irish judge. Two
other sisters of Mr. Hallowell, the widows of officers in the
British service, Mrs. Gould and Mrs. Bishop, he found
residing at Bristol. The husband of the former, Colonel
Paston Gould, was the brother of Sir Charles Gould,
Baronet, whose grandson has since been called to the
peerage as Lord Tredegar. At Bristol, also, was his aunt
on the mother's side, Mrs. Browne, with her high aristocratic habits and connections.
After passing the winter under medical advice, at the
hot wells of his native city, he went, under the same
advice, into Devonshire for the spring months, finding much
hospitality amongst gentlemen of the county to whom he
52




410             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
had letters; and in the following summer took a long tour
on horseback among the Welsh mountains. He continued
his tour through various parts of England, and after
spending some weeks amongst his relatives in London and
in the country, accepted the invitation of Mr. and Mrs.
Apthorp, of Boston, to accompany them to the continent.
They went first to Holland, spent two months at Paris,
then in the state of transition created by the first consulship of Bonaparte, and then proceeded to Bordeaux, where
a number of Americans were engaged in business. It was
their intention to go on from the south of France into
Italy; but the unsettled times had caused such difficulties
in travelling that they saw themselves compelled to pause
at Nismes, and return to Paris.
It was now the early spring of 1803, and Mr. Hallowell
had just reached his majority, when, if not before, he
assumed, in accordance with the will of his grandfather,
the additional surname of Gardiner. The care of the
estate of which he now became the possessor, required his
presence in Maine, and he returned from Europe much
invigorated in his constitution, though still a man of
seemingly delicate frame, and always accustomed to a
careful and somewhat abstemious course of living.
He came to the Kennebec, to the town which had just
been separated from Pittston and incorporated under his
own name of Gardiner, as indeed the settlement for thirty
years before had been known as Gardinerston. He came
to make it his residence, with many interruptions, perhaps,
but still, as it pleased the Giver of life, for an unusual
length of days. Slender and slight as he was when he
first appeared as the boy landlord of many rough and
suspicious men, he lived sixty years more upon that spot,
till their great-grandchildren saw him almost as active and
alert as then.
The estates to which he was heir had suffered during his
minority. They could not be sold because they were




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         411
entailed. No leases were practicable beyond the continuance of a life which had seemed so very frail and
precarious; and his father, as his guardian, had not felt it
to be safe to incur any heavy expenditure for their
improvement, in which the interest of his own family might
so easily expire. Besides, a claim had been founded upon
a supposititious deed, subversive of his whole title, and,
absurd as it was, several years had passed before it could
be publicly condemned by the verdict of a jury. In the
mean time occupants had not been wanting; but many of
them paid no rent, and deemed their labor a sufficient title
to the soil on which it had been expended. The task
which opened itself out before a young man of so limited
an experience, was not a little appalling, even if it had not
been made more formidable by prejudices against an
absentee owner of foreign nativity, of loyalist parentage,
and of aristocratic kindred.
Amongst ninety-seven families settled in Gardiner, only
eleven had any legal right to the lands which they occupied,
and these occupied not more than a hundred acres. With
natural advantages exceeding those of its neighbors,
Gardiner had gained little or nothing in thirty years, while
Hallowell and Augusta had become flourishing villages,
with good roads to the interior.
The first business was that of accurate surveys, yet not
so accurate as to be more costly than the lands themselves.
This was accomplished through the services of Solomon
Adams, a good surveyor, and an upright man. The next
was to break the entail, which was rather slowly effected
through the old English mode of fines and recovery, under
the counsel of Judge Wilde, and with satisfactory compensation to Sylvester Whipple, the young cousin who was
next in remainder to Mr. Gardiner and his chileren. The
third step was to reach a settlement with the tenants at
their own will, so that they might either take leases, or
purchase, or depart. This was a serious undertaking, and




412             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
it concerned not the township of Gardiner alone, nor the
tenure of his property alone, but that of extensive regions
on the eastern side of the Kennebec, where the same class
of settlers had established themselves, and were often
disposed to maintain their position against law by fraud
and passive resistance, and even, if the need were, by the
strong hand. These men had an interest in spreading
such reports as might persuade the people of Gardiner that
the title was defective, or that the property would be
abandoned. They had been so far successful that Mr.
Gardiner could accomplish nothing by private communication, each man awaiting the action of his neighbors.
A circular was addressed by him, therefore, to every
such tenant or settler in the township, inviting them to
meet him at a room engaged for the purpose, at a certain
day and hour. Resolutely excluding from this meeting all
intruders, and offering to the settlers fair and liberal terms
of compromise, he arrived, on the spot, at a written agreement with almost all; an agreement which in the end
included, indeed, the whole of the settlers, save one.
Forty-nine took deeds of the lands on which they lived,
while thirty-seven chose to receive compensation for their
improvements and abandon the soil. One man alone
would yield to nothing but force, and finally was ejected
from his premises, and imprisoned for a little while for his
resistance to the legal process.
This happy union of determination with a conciliating
regard to the interests and feelings of all, tended much to
preserve harmony in the community, and to create respect
for the youthful proprietor. He proceeded to invite new
inhabitants by sales and leases on such terms as promised
every advantage, and began at once that career of liberal
outlay which so largely aided to build up the town, and at
the same time make it a pleasant residence for his own
family. Within ten years the population was doubled.
After this work of the summer of 1803, it was thought




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         413
prudent by the friends of Mr. Gardiner that he should pass
the winter in a less severe climate. Accompanied by his
friend and classmate, Gorham, he visited the south, taking
with him the best letters of introduction, and enjoying the
highest hospitality. The habits of drinking and of looseness in conversation and in life, which he found in the
most affluent and cultivated society of the land, left no
impression upon his mind, honorable and pure from youth,
except those of pain and disgust. To a very large extent
he perceived them to be united, also, with disbelief in the
christian religion.
He saw Philadelphia, where Sunday was then the day
chosen for large dinner parties. At Washington, then so
new, he was introduced by Governor Eustis to President
Jefferson, who received him in a well-worn blue coat,
corduroy breeches, stockings refooted, and a faded and
soiled waistcoat of scarlet. At Alexandria, on a bright
Sunday, in the church where Washington had been
accustomed to worship, less than twelve persons were
assembled. At Richmond, only one barn-like house,
occupied by the Methodists, was open for divine service,
besides the capitol, in which there were Episcopalian and
Presbyterian ministrations on alternate Sundays. At
Charleston he went on board of two vessels loaded with
cargoes of slaves just imported from the African coast.
The hospitality of the plantations of South Carolina was
abundantly offered. He saw the manners of the land, and
having spent some time in the interior and visited Savannah, he returned by water as far as Baltimore, and from
thence by land to Boston, arriving in May, 1804, with
health decidedly improved.
The communion vessels of Christ Church, Gardiner, bore
for sixty years an inscription, of which the purport was
that they were presented in 1804, to St. Ann's Church,
Pittston, which was the old name of the church, by Robert
Hallowell Gardiner. In pursuance of the will of his




414             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
grandfather a church had been built, but was not completed
when, in 1794, it was set on fire by a maniac and
consumed. Another was soon erected; a structure sufficiently plain and humble, and surrounded by its
churchyard. For the present Mr. Gardiner found it
sufficient, though the only house of worship in the village;
but with the growth of the population his designs
expanded.
In the summer of 1804, he fitted up as an inn a large
building erected by his grandfather, the exact counterpart
of the old court house at Dresden, built a fulling mill, and,
at a heavy expense, constructed a substantial wharf
somewhat exceeding the necessities of the place. It was
his aim from the beginning to develop all the natural
resources of the spot, and he perceived them to be not
readily exhausted.
The winter of 1804 was spent in Boston, where at that
time he became one of the club known as the Anthology
Club, a small association of men of taste, who met weekly
for social and literary culture, and whose organ of communication with the public came to be the "Monthly
"Anthology." The members did not exceed fourteen or
fifteen in number, the chief of whom were the Rev. Dr.
Gardiner, President Kirkland, Professor McKean, Buckminster, James Savage, William Emerson, William Tudor,
and, at a later period, George Ticknor. For several winters
this was amongst the chief attractions which made that
season at Boston so pleasant to Mr. Gardiner, and gratified
as well as cherished his love of fascinating conversation.
But this winter of 1804 was his happiest in Boston, as
its result was his marriage in the following year to Emma
Tudor, daughter of the Hon. William Tudor. Two of her
brothers were his accomplished friends, William Tudor, the
biographer of Otis, and the late Frederic Tudor who
founded the ice trade; and accumulated in it an immense
estate. Her sister was the wife of Commodore Charles




ROBERT lHALLOWELL GARDINER.        415
Stewart. In a union of fifty-nine years, Mr. Gardiner was
conscious of an unbroken fullness of conjugal happiness, for
which, to the extreme limit of his days, no tenderness of
chivalric devotion was more than an adequate expression.
He came with his young bride to the banks of the
Kennebec, and established their abode amidst scenes of
comparative rudeness. There was, indeed, both then and
before, a sprinkling of fine social cultivation at intervals
along the river. At Augusta, Colonel Howard maintained
the hospitality of the older days; his fire, it was said, never
went out throughout the year. The names of Weston,
Bridge, Coney and Williams, recall the sagacity and
intelligence, as well as the kindly cheerfulness of the early
fathers of that fair city. At Hallowell were the Vaughans,
with all their English customs, their speculative habits of
thought, and their varied information; the late venerable
John Merrick, who had married into the family, and was
distinguished by all its characteristics; Judge Wilde, who
adorned the Massachusetts bench, and Dr. Gillett, who
upheld firmly the old orthodoxy of the Puritans. At
Gardiner, in addition to Mr. Hallowell and Mr. Gardiner,
was General Dearborn, who had participated in the
expedition to Quebec, and who at a later period became
secretary of war, commanding on the northern frontier in
the war of 1812, and minister to Portugal; and here, also,
were Dr. Parker, who had a seat in congress, and afterwards, Frederick Allen and George Evans. Though the
roads at first were imperfect, and visits somewhat
infrequent, yet the necessity and attraction of society were
such as to create an intercourse probably as genial and
cordial, even at such distances, as any which has since
taken its place.
For six years Mr. Gardiner resided in the house which
had been occupied by his father on the eastern bank of
the river, near the ferry. It has since been the home of
the Stevens family, and is made beautiful by its noble




416             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
avenue of ancient elms planted by Mr. Hallowell. As the
young family of Mr. Gardiner began to demand ampler
space, he determined to build a mansion on the western
bank, a mile below the village. It was built in 1809, and
for twenty-three years, spacious as it was, its chambers
were crowded with the succession of inmates and guests,
whom, in addition to his own immediate household, he
always loved to gather within the circle of his domestic
affection, his beneficence, or his hospitality.
His own household, throughout a long period, embraced
more than twenty persons. His father died under his
roof; his venerable mother-in-law lived there, with bright
faculties, beyond the age of ninety. Children, the companions of his children, had there the equal blessings of a
refined and regulated home. Teachers were there assisted
in their task by parental intelligence and fidelity. The
judges of the courts, on their circuits, did not fail to become
his visitors. Every intelligent traveller from abroad who
came to the Kennebec was almost sure to bring letters
which threw open his doors. The clergy were ever
honored under his roof for the sake of Him by whom they
were sent.
His grounds extended to the road along the bank, and
indeed the road was carried through them; and while the
green lawn in front, and hillocks at either extremity formed
always a pleasant picture, the open fields in the rear rise
gently towards a distant wood, and to the south, through
the trees, the river stretched away, curved, and was lost to
sight. The fruits of the garden, so far as they can bear
the rigor of our climate, were carefully cherished, and
our finest forest vegetation added its hardy beauty to the
scene. In the house itself, which was a fair mansion of
ample but not too ample dimensions, the library was well
replenished with the best literature, while the cheerful
voices of a large family of children were heard, year after
year, in the halls and chambers, and out in the avenues




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.        417
and on the grass. Over all presided a spirit of gentle, not
obtrusive, but unshrinking piety. No guest of a few days
left that mansion without the consciousness that he had
been an inmate of a christian household; and those were
not a few who, in the course of years, could trace the
commencement or the decided improvement of their own
religious character to the impressions which they had
quietly received under the example and influence which
predominated there.
Very soon after his establishment on the Kennebec, Mr.
Gardiner, who had pursued a course of reading on the
evidences of christianity, became entirely free from all the
remaining shadow which had been left on his mind from
the skepticism of the college.
He entered with conscientious alacrity on a course of
christian obedience, and very soon became a communicant
at the Parish Church of the village. It was then, and for a
long time, the only house of worship, and was the only
Episcopal church in Maine, except that at Portland. In
some of the early rectors he found but small material for
companionship in taste and social sentiment; but he was
ever the most constant of worshippers, and labored to
discharge the duty of a faithful parishioner. When there
was no resident clergyman he read the Sunday service, and
this twice happened for many months in succession,
extending even to years. In compliance with the will of
his grandfather, a parsonage had been built on the glebe
land; and when it came to be occupied by a minister of
singularly popular qualities, the Rev. Gideon Walter Olney,
who took charge of the parish in 1817, it was at the expense
of Mr. Gardiner, very handsomely enlarged. About the
same time the parish voted to undertake the erection of a
new church, and as he was by far its wealthiest and most
prominent member, and held from 1812 to 1829, with the
exception of two years, the office of senior warden, it was
obvious that on him would devolve the whole stress of the
53




418             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
practical responsibility. To him it was due that a true
gothic church of stone was begun and finished, the corner
stone being laid on the 31st of May, 1819, and the edifice
being consecrated in September of the following year. It
was as complete, striking, and faultless a structure of its
own architectural style, as could be found at that time in
the United States, and made the most beautiful ecclesiastical edifice in Maine. The cost was about fifteen
thousand dollars, and in the end Mr. Gardiner assumed an
unsold balance of     pews, which, long after, he presented to the parish. Not less than the sum of eleven
thousand dollars must be estimated as'his offering to that
church, which, looking down upon his grave, makes his
best monument.
The church stands at one corner of the common, and on
the same side at the other corner, stands another building
of stone, of the same hue. It is now the High School of
Gardiner. It was originally the lyceum. That institution
owed its foundation to the desire of Mr. Gardiner, in
common with many others, that facilities might exist
within the state for the instruction of young men in those
departments of science which are connected with agricultural and mechanical pursuits, and with the general
business and industry of the community. It was a noble
design; and Mr. Gardiner both contributed largely towards
the first outlay, and also was the chief, if not sole reliance
of the institution when the state, which at first made a
grant towards its support, after several years withdrew
that aid, and the popular interest languished. Though it
enjoyed the services of two or three teachers of high merit,
it was at length relinquished. The building passed
ultimately into the hands of the city, and many of the
books and instruments which had been collected were
scattered. One of the principals of the lyceum was the
Rev. Dr. Benjamin Hale, afterwards professor in Dartmouth College, and subsequently president of Geneva




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         419
College, who till his death, which occurred shortly before
that of Mr. Gardiner, was his constant friend and
correspondent.
Between the church and the building erected for the
lyceum, lay the old churchyard of the village. In process
of time it was found inadequate, and might have fallen
into an unseemly neglect, but for the provident and liberal
aid of Mr. Gardiner. Having relinquished to the parish a
large number of pews, he made it a condition of the gift
that the proceeds of their future sale from the parish to
individuals should constitute a fund, the interest of which
should be appropriated to certain specific purposes. Of
these purposes, two of the first were the purchase of a
small piece of ground required to make the churchyard
complete, and the provision of a substantial fence of iron.
In the course of years both these purposes were
accomplished, and much was added to the sacred beauty
of the spot. The common itself, around which are now
ranged four of the houses of public worship, was his gift to
the town. Through his care chiefly, the land, consisting
of ten acres bequeathed by his grandfather for a glebe, was
divided, after its value had become much augmented, into
lots for houses, and became the site of many pleasant
dwellings, while the proceeds formed an important parochial
fund towards the maintenance of the rector.
When in 1820, Maine became a separate state, it followed
as a natural sequence, that the Episcopal Church in Maine
should receive a separate organization. It might be such,
though a part also of what was known as the "eastern
"diocese," which was under the administration of Bishop
Griswold, and included the Episcopalian congregations of
the states of Massachusetts, New  Hampshire, Rhode
Island, Vermont, and Maine, each state having still the
organization of a distinct diocese. There were at this time
only two Episcopal churches in Maine, yet the organization
was perfected, and Mr. Gardiner almost ever after




420             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
represented the diocese as one of its lay delegates in the
general convention. There, as his years and experience
multiplied, and as his great worth became more widely
known, he grew to be one of the most honored members of
the body, and one of its most trusted counsellors. In the
missionary operations of the church he had always a lively
interest, and much of the spirit of an actor; and, after the
adoption of the present system in 1835, he was a punctual
member of the General Board of Missions. He was also
a trustee from the first of the General Theological Seminary
at New York. Within the diocese of Maine he was, from
the necessity of his position, education, and settled principles, the most conspicuous layman. Not shrinking from
the post allotted him by Providence, he met its responsibilities with a devotion which will not be forgotten as long
as his name shall be remembered. He was always the
treasurer of the Diocesan Missionary Society, and its
payments were never permitted to be delayed. In his
later years he endeavored to attend all the meetings of its
board, which was several times in the year. All the body
consisted chiefly of the clergy, and most of them young
men, and none too old to have been his sons, he was
amongst them indeed as a father, with characteristic
kindness, promptness, sagacity, and eagerness, and yet
with a striking readiness to relinquish his own views of
expediency in deference to the opinions of the rest. Down
to the last months and weeks of his life, when all other
business was left behind, he still loved to employ his mind
with these occupations, though absent from the meetings,
and still had his delight in doing any service for the church
of his Redeemer.
In public affairs Mr. Gardiner, throughout his life, was
rather an intelligent and interested participant, than a
prominent or ambitious mover. Once I have supposed,
but am not sure of the fact, he was elected to the state
senate; and when the town of Gardiner, in 1849, accepted




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         421
a city organization, the unanimous feeling of the community
tendered to him the position of its first mayor, which he
retained for two years of energetic and wise administration.
He was, as might be expected, an adherent originally of
the old school of federalists, and at a later period he acted
with the party which sustained the governments of Adams,
Harrison, and Fillmore. A constant reader of foreign
publications, and very familiar with the political economy
of Great Britain, he embraced the doctrines of free trade.
His dislike of slavery was thorough, and was the result of
a high moral principle; but the letter of the constitution,
as of every other pledge, was to him inviolable. He had
the sentiment of a hereditary conservatism in a very happy
union with such an appreciation of human rights and of
the destinies of our republic, as forbade anything like the
weakness of wishing to keep all things as they were. Few
men have more of the taste for improvement in every
direction; it was the impulse of his activity of mind, as
well as of his benevolence. Never could he be named as
one whom the times had left behind; his sanguine thought
more than kept pace with their progress.
Through his influence the savings bank, the first in that
part of the state, was at an early period established in the
community where he lived, and he was the president of
the institution till his decease. In a different sphere he
gave himself from the beginning to the work of founding
and carrying on a Sunday school in his parish, when such
arrangements were comparatively unknown, and there, very
largely through his labors and those of his family, it has
been the source of valuable good. His position and
interests compelled him to participate in every movement
which had for its end the promotion of trade, manufactures,
agriculture, facility of intercourse, or general improvement.
But it was also the impulse of his own mental activity, and
n ver weary benevolence.




422             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
For many years, I believe, he held the office of an
overseer of Bowdoin College, and for nineteen years that
of trustee, which he relinquished only on reaching the age
of seventy-eight. He was long President of the Bible
Society of the county of Kennebec. As one of the visitors
from year to year of the Lunatic Asylum at Augusta, he
became familiar with one of the noblest charities of the
state, not the less, but all the more requiring the most
constant, wise and tender supervision. That lie was
elected President over the Maine Historical Society, and
held that office for eleven years, was a tribute not so much
to any special devotion to antiquarian pursuits, or even
to historical studies, though he enriched the publications
of the society with very valuable matter from his pen,
especially a history of the Kennebec purchase, and a sketch
of the life of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, as to his general
intelligence, to the respect felt for his high character, to
his qualifications as a punctual, prompt and courteous
chairman, and to the somewhat historical place he must
always sustain in the local annals of the state.
The lapse of years which we have somewhat anticipated
saw in the person of Mr. Gardiner only those changes
which carried on the delicate youth, for whose life his
friends almost despaired, into a manhood of established
health and singular alertness and activity, and then into an
old age, wonderfully fresh and well strung. He was short
of stature and light of form, with a quick, cheerful gray
eye, and a step so rapid, so elastic, and a presence of mind
so instant as to have often carried him through perilous
accidents, when a moment might have brought great
injury, and perhaps death. Never addicted to the sports
of the field, or to any scenes of excitement, he read much,
rode much, walked but little, and was always abstemious
in his diet.
Fond, but not to excess, of intelligent society, ever
employed, ever in the bosom of his family, always careful




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         423
to arrange his time for every engagement, and almost
always before his time; it pleased him, in his daily life, to
preserve accurate meteorological tables, and in his later
years to perform this service for the national purposes of
the Smithsonian Institute. In a country comparatively
new, many of the customs of families and individuals,
especially under the severity of a northern winter, must be
liable to interruption and irregularity; but Mr. Gardiner,
without being the slave of method, loved it, and passed
his days in a succession of occupations which left no hour
idle or useless.
It was scarcely possible that there should not be in a
small New England town, some readiness on some side to
misconceive the position and the character of one whom
Providence had placed where he stood. He had inherited,
under an entail, the title to the whole of the soil; he was
still by far the largest landholder; he had been born in
England; his family had been tories; his name had been
changed to perpetuate the remembrance of a family, and
in accordance with a custom of the mother country; he
had been vested, under the will of his ancestor, with the
patronage of the church which, however, he had gracefully
relinquished; he held, and had at one time resolved to
leave to his children as a patrimony, the water privileges
on the Cobbosee Contee; he had thus many tenants; his
housekeeping was on a scale of considerable expense; his
hospitality was abundant; the distance in habits, manners,
tastes, seemed to many forbidding, and to imply exclusiveness, and suggest haughtiness; and so there was room
enough for a popular jealousy, if not for an envious
dislike. It is much to say, but it is true, that in the face
of all this difficulty Mr. Gardiner and his numerous family
of sons and daughters did so bear themselves with such
conscientiousness and kindness, that the feeling itself never
rose beyond a slight ripple, and that they were regarded as
the neighbors and friends of all. Whatever might be the




424             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
actual diversity of education, position, or social habits,
there are probably few places in which any separation of
classes has been less invidiously maintained or imagined.
It was in the year 1834, on the 11th of November, that
the mansion of Mr. Gardiner, which had been the seat of
so much happiness, was destroyed by fire at noonday.
With it perished many of his books and papers, and our
local history will always sustain a loss through that conflagration. In the design of rebuilding he determined to
adopt a more durable material, and he called in the advice
of Mr. Upjohn, the distinguished architect of Trinity
Church, New York. The beautiful house of stone which
was thus built was, doubtless, more expensive than the
owner had intended, but it certainly presents, with its fine
site and background, the noblest example, though severely
simple, of an English country residence, almost castellated
in aspect, which can be found in this part of our country.
Many a more costly abode has failed to leave such an
impression on the beholder, or so to enrich its own
neighborhood with the sense of a moral beauty united with
a historical significance. The house of Oaklands, as long
as it remains, will be to the dwellers along those banks of
the Kennebec, the memorial of the largeness of mind, the
taste, the hospitality and all the domestic virtue of him
who, though no longer in life on that spot, so well adorned
the full character of the christian citizen, gentleman,
landlord, friend and father.
The other losses by fire, which in the course of years
were sustained by Mr. Gardiner, especially in the repeated
destruction of mills and machinery, materially diminished
his estate, which was even more seriously affected by his
honorable determination to assume responsibilities to
which he could have been held by no other obligation but
that of the most delicate feeling of honor. In the
administration of a large-landed property, from which parts
were under leases involving a variety of mutual engage



ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         425
ments, and parts were continually sold to persons who held
them under mortgage for the payment of most of the
original prices, it was impossible that the most upright
man should not sometimes meet the complaints of the
discontented, the uncalculating  and the unfortunate.
Extreme kindness of heart could only aggravate the evil,
by encouraging habits of looseness and neglect. "The
"Squire," which was the familiar old English title by
which he was known through all the country round, leaned,
if there was a failing even there, "to virtue's side." If
the interest of anyone suffered, it was not the interest of
the poor.
The nine children of Mr. Gardiner all grew up to
maturity. Of his three sons, the eldest married in Georgia,
and, having property and friends at both extremes of the
country, was accustomed to divide his time between both;
the second was an officer in the army of the United States;
the third a clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Of his six daughters, three died before him, one of them,
the young wife of a gentleman of Georgia, the brother-inlaw of her eldest brother, and two unmarried and at home,
leaving the rich memory of their deeds of piety and love.
Two of his surviving daughters were married; the elder
rearing up her family on an estate carved out from his
own; the other living in Boston, while the youngest of all
remained at home to cherish the advancing age of both
her parents. It was not free from some sorrows of the
tenderest and saddest hue. They could not look on the
blue waters of the Kennebec which glided before their
windows, and not sometimes think of some whom those
waters had covered. But a signal blessing still rested
upon the household, and to very few men has it been
granted to see in so large a family a spirit of such uniform
and honorable adherence to the principles and character
which it was his best and highest ambition to bequeath.
It was not till a late period of his life that Mr. Gardiner
54




426             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
even began to withdraw himself from the daily occupations
of business. He loved its activity, and his mind was
wonderfully capable of bearing along at the same time a
multitude of details, each falling into its own place. It
was almost a necessity to him that each hour should bring
its task, and that this should then give place to the next;
he cared not that it should linger, even though it were
pleasant. His yearly visit to Boston, though sometimes
more brief than before, occupied a large part of almost
every winter, and was arranged even for that which was
his last.
A more beautiful old age has seldom been seen. The
kindly brightness of his eye was not dim, nor his natural
force so abated as to prevent his characteristic activity. A
long journey still revived him from all sense of weariness,
and with undiminished interest he read and heard of all
events, efforts, discoveries and improvements which
promised any blessing to mankind.
Ie had been disappointed in none of his children, and
all of them were often around him. At the Popham
celebration, in 1862, he had passed the age of eighty, and
yet he returned unfatigued, except for a few hours, from
that exhausting day. His mental powers never decayed,
nor seemed materially slower in their exercise. The
conjugal felicity of almost sixty years was still bright with
the same manly and delicate tenderness, as courteous,
cordial and graceful as ever. His seat in the house of
God was never vacant, unless under the pressure of some
occasional illness, nor was his voice ever behind the
foremost in the devout responses of the liturgy, which he
had loved from his childhood. As long as he lived he had
pleasure in the society of his friends, and almost as long
was an assiduous correspondent. Towards the close, at
the suggestion of one of his children, he prepared for his
family a narration of the principal events of his earlier
life, and of many of the more important incidents of his




ROBERT HALLOWELL GARDINER.         427
later history, which, though designed only for his own
circle, and in its nature private, had much of the peculiar
charm of some of the most attractive autobiographies.
The shadow of the great war hung over his last days,
and, like so many other venerable and patriotic citizens, he
was removed before its issue was more than a matter of
confident hope. While he acquiesced in the stern necessity
of the strongest martial means, and detested the whole
spirit, design and motive of the rebellion, he yet contemplated with foreboding, perhaps even with timidity, the
changes which the future might bring forth. But it was
not with any unmanly nervousness that he met the crisis,
nor was his evening made unhappy by any distrust of the
good Providence which has ever watched over our
country.
In the autumn of 1863, some indications of disease led
him to seek medical advice, and it appeared that his
symptoms, though otherwise not very serious in themselves, vet betokened the existence of a fatal malady.
With the same promptness and accuracy with which he
would have inquired into the probable sequence of any
common events of interest, he desired to ascertain, as far
as might be, the time which would probably elapse, and
the degree of suffering which would precede the issue.
He was told that the process might continue through most
of the winter, and that it would be attended with much
pain. The former prediction was verified, the latter was
mercifully disappointed. He received both with the most
meek and cheerful submission, and blessed God without
ceasing, that his decline was without the distress for which
he had been prepared. Every arrangement was made with
readiness, yet with deliberation for life and for death alike.
Every Sunday he was in his pew, till the prolonged
position of sitting became painful and injurious, and then
a lounge was prepared for him in the adjoining vestry
room. For the last time he reclined there on Christmas




428             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
day; and having come out to receive the Lord's supper at
the alter-rail, was obliged to leave the church without
delay, and never visited it again. He was able much
longer to continue his occasional rides, but every week the
space of his exertions grew narrower with the most regular
progress, till they were limited to the grounds, then to the
house, then to the chamber, and at last for a very little
while to the bed. All his children were around him
through the winter, and repeatedly received with him the
holy sacrament. His daily delight was in prayers, hymns
and thanksgivings. On Tuesday, the 22d of March, 1864,
just as the sun went down, pouring its beams into the
western window of the room, he expired, in the midst of
his family, in the full possession of all his powers, and in
the calmest enjoyment of "a reasonable, religious and holy
"hope." It was the Tuesday in passion week; and so it
befell that his burial took place about the same hour of
the day, on the Friday on which the church commemorates
the crucifixion of the Redeemer.
Amidst the reverence and sorrow of a grateful assembly,
his body was laid close by the church which he had so
largely built, and under the shadow of the trees which he
had planted, to await the resurrection of the just.




NOTICE    OF
RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.,
iFIRST BISHOP OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MAINE.
BY REV. F. GARDINER, D. D.
GEORGE BURGESS was born October 31st, 1809, at
Providence, Rhode Island. The following particulars in
regard to his ancestry are from a genealogy of the Burgess
family published by the Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Burgess, of
Dedham, Massachusetts. Thomas Burgess arrived with a
young family at Salem not far from 1630, and soon removed
to Sandwich, where, in the association of settlers, he was
"a chief man among them." He was an original member
of the church instituted there in 1638, and with advancing
years became a large landholder, being familiarly known
as "Goodman Burgess." He served the town in every
office in its gift, from the humblest to the highest, and died
February 13th, 1685, at the age of eighty-two. His third
son was Jacob, and Jacob's son, Ebenezer, removed to that
part of Plymouth called Wareham. Ebenezer's third son
of the same name was the father of three sons, the
youngest of whom, Prince, was the grandfather of the
Bishop. It is recorded of Prince Burgess that "in perse"vering industry and religious trust he served God and his
"generation to the good age of eighty-four years. In the




430             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"revolutionary war he joined the armies of his country for
"a short campaign, and he bore the title of Lieutenant to
"the end of life."
The second son of Prince was Thomas Burgess, the
father of the Bishop. He graduated at Brown University
in 1800, and settled in Providence. In 1803 he married
Mary, daughter of Andrew Mackie, MI. D., of Wareham,
Massachusetts, and of Scotch descent. He became judge
of the municipal court of Providence, and subsequently
chief justice of the common pleas. "Distinguished through
"life by scrupulous integrity, by habits of great industry,
"and by the conscientious discharge of every trust, as well
"as by eminent sagacity and prudence, he merited and
"acquired the confidence of his fellow-citizens in a manner
"that is accorded only to the most blameless.... The
"honorable profession of the law has seldom furnished a
"worthier example of the christian duties than his character
"displayed from youth to age; uprightness, fidelity,
"discretion, diligence and the fear of God. At an early
"period Judge Burgess and his wife were united with the
"church of Christ, and maintained an exemplary deport"ment to the end of life." For the last twelve years of his
life he was a member of the standing committee of the
Episcopal Church in Rhode Island. His eldest son,
Thomas Mackie, was for ten successive years mayor of his
native city of Providence.
The strong traits of character noticeable in the above
brief genealogy were fully inherited by the subject of the
present memoir, and it was under such influences as have
been indicated that he received his early nurture. In his
case eminently, "the child was father of the man," and
George Burgess was distinguished in childhood by the
same qualities which so strongly characterized him in after
years: intellectually, by a love of reading and study and a
marked development of poetic powers, and morally, by
perseverance, truthfulness and kindliness, united to a




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      431
chivalric courage, love of fairness, and conscientious
fortitude. He was noted too, for his zeal and manliness in
the sports of childhood, into which a robust constitution
enabled him to enter with advantage. At twelve years his
part at a school exhibition was an original ballad for which
he was prepared by his already considerable poetical and
historical reading. At this time he was quite fitted for
college, but being thought by his father too young to enter,
he was taken from school and passed a year in the study
of French, and miscellaneous reading.
In 1822 he entered Brown University, being then not
quite thirteen, and the youngest member of his class. His
fidelity of character appeared here in the fact that he was
never absent during the course from either prayers or
recitation, and was never marked deficient. He was once,
only, absent from church on Sunday, when, having fainted
at the morning service, he was not allowed to go out in the
afternoon. From the first he took a high stand in his
class, and graduated in 1826 with the highest honors.
The Bishop's family for generations had been
Congregationalists, but during his childhood his father's
pastor became Unitarian. His parents, although not
receiving the new theological views of their pastor,
continued, from personal attachment, to attend his ministrations. The discrepancy which thus arose between the
instructions from the pulpit and the teachings of his home,
led the young George Burgess to a careful examination of
the subject. Beginning the study with earnestness when
about fifteen, he did not lose sight of it until towards the
close of 1828 he made his final choice by becoming a
communicant of St. John's church. One sister was confirmed with him, and his father and mother also joined him
a few years later. It was probably these circumstances
which in later years gave him especial interest in the
preparation of his well known "Pages from the Ecclesi"astical History of New England."




432             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
He had now been graduated something over two years,
and had spent the time in the study of law in his father's
office. He completed his course of study, which intensely
interested him, but was never admitted to the bar. Before
finishing his law studies he became convinced that duty
required him to devote his life to the service of God in the
ministry. Just at this time a tutorship was offered him in
Brown University, which he accepted, and continued to
discharge its duties from 1829 to 1831, meantime pursuing
his theological studies under the superintendence of the
Rev. Dr. Crocker. In the spring of the latter year he went
abroad, spending two years in study at the Universities of
Gottingen, Bonn and Berlin, and a third year in European
travel. Among the distinguished men whose lectures he
attended, may be mentioned, at Bonn, Nitzsch, Sack,
and Freytag; at Berlin, Schleiermacher, Neander, and
Hengstenberg; at Gottingen he appears to have remained
only three months on his first arrival, and was not as yet
sufficiently familiar with the language to profit much by
the lectures, but he had letters from Robinson to Luche,
and enjoyed his intercourse with him. He was deeply
impressed with the superior facilities for study afforded in
Germany, and the following entry occurs among others in
his journal: "It *is painful to think of the absolute
"impossibility of thorough fundamental investigation with
"our exceedingly limited means in America." A full
generation has since passed away, and very much has in
the mean time been done to remove the deficiencies among
us; but as these words are still almost literally true now,
how much more must they have meant thirty-three years
ago.
Returning from Europe in April, 1834, he was ordained
deacon by Bishop Griswold on the tenth of June in the
same year, in Grace church, Providence. He soon received
an invitation to the temporary charge of St. James church,
New London, with a probability of his becoming the




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      433
rector. Going to Hartford to consult with Bishop
Brownell, he was urged instead, to become assistant for
two months in Christ Church, Hartford, of which Bishop
Brownell had temporary charge during a vacancy in the
rectorship. He finally decided to accept the Bishop's
invitation, and before the two months had passed was
unanimously asked to become the permanent rector of the
parish. He was accordingly admitted to the priesthood,
and instituted rector of the parish on the same day,
November 2nd, 1834. By an unusual arrangement he
preached his own institution sermon. In this parish he
remained during the thirteen succeeding years, or until his
elevation to the episcopate.
On the 26th of October, 1846, he was married to Sophia,
daughter of Leonard Kip, Esq., and sister of the Rev. I.
W. Kip, D. D., (now Bishop of the Episcopal church in
California.) She still survives him. By her he had one
daughter who died, unmarried, May 1st, 1873.
In 1846 he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity,
both from his own Alma Mater, Brown University, and
also from Union College, Schenectady. The same degree
was subsequently conferred by Bishop's College, in the See
of Quebec.
The thirteen years of his parish life in Hartford were
marked by quiet, but steady and unwearied activity in
parochial work, and also by the discharge of much more
public duty in the diocese and in the church at large, as
well as in his capacity of a citizen of Hartford. His
parish was the mother church of Hartford, and when he
took charge of it, and for some years afterwards, was the
only Episcopal church in the city. Among his parishioners
were therefore included the many eminent names whom
Hartford has given from that congregation to literature, to
the judiciary and to the various walks of civil life, and by
all of them who survive, Bishop Burgess is remembered,
not only with the respect due to the upright pastor and the
55




434             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
wise counsellor, but with the warm affection of a personal
friend. He was always most diligent in his parochial
ministrations, especially among the sick, the afflicted, and
the poor,-the ministrations in which he most delighted.
To the poor, temporal aid was wont to accompany
spiritual counsel, and that not merely by the giving of
money, but the humblest forms of manual labor were
welcome to him in the relief of the poor widow or friendless
person. These habits were the more remarkable because,
by natural temperament, he was exceedingly diffident.
His first visit to a new family was apt to be stiff and
uninteresting. He was silent, and sometimes even gave
the impression of being a cold and ungenial man. But all
such impressions vanished on a closer acquaintance, and
among his older parishioners his frequent visits were
always greeted with joy. The time occupied in his long
and frequent walks in the visitation of distant parishioners
was economized by reading as he went.
The same successful overcoming of natural disinclination
by resolutely and constantly acting from a sense of duty,
was visible in his treatment of his Sunday school. He
thought he had no faculty for speaking to children, yet
week by week, year in and'year out, he was always to be
found for a few minutes, at least, in the desk of his Sunday
school room, giving simple and earnest instructions which
always interested the children at the time, and which are
now treasured up by many as the precious legacy of a wise
and holy man.
Of sermons he ordinarily prepared two every week. He
spoke easily and well extemporarily, but seldom or never
used that method at the regular morning and afternoon
services of the Sunday. At a third service on Sunday
evening, or at his weekly lectures, he, always spoke without
notes, although not without preparation; and his extemporaneous addresses after he became a Bishop, to
candidates for confirmation, and on missionary subjects at




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      435
gatherings of the clergy, were peculiarly felicitous and
useful. In these, as well as in those not infrequent public
addresses which he was called upon, as a prominent
citizen to make, his thought was always striking and to the
point, and his language not merely fluent, but of the
choicest English, and exquisitely moulded to his purpose.
Notwithstanding this power, however, he feared to forego
the full labor of writing out his regular Sunday sermons,
lest he should be tempted to slight his preparation for
them. He seldom resorted to an old sermon, and even
when he went to a new parish, with the added duties of
the episcopate, his sermons were still, for the most part,
freshly written. The following anecdote may illustrate the
rapidity with which many of his sermons were prepared.
"He once delivered a lecture before the Connecticut
"Historical Society upon the condition in their native
"country, of the early settlers of New England. This
"lecture was deemed a most valuable historical document,
" and a copy was requested for preservation in the archives
"of the society. He readily acceded to the request, upon
"the condition that some one was employed to copy it. As
"the lecture contained many proper names, the person
"employed was unable to decipher them. To obviate this
"difficulty, he read a sentence of the lecture aloud, and
"while the copyist was writing it down, he occupied himself
"in writing a sermon. By the time the lecture was
"finished, he had finished the sermon." From this habit
of rapid and frequent writing, it necessarily followed that
his ordinary sermons could not embody that amount of
thought and receive that care in preparation which should
constitute them what are called "great sermons." They
were rather the outpouring of a full christian heart and
mind, always expressed in the finest English, and always
full of rich practical experience, and wise christian counsel.
They were sermons under which any congregation would
grow in the christian life. Their general character is fairly




436             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
shown in the volume of "Sermons on the Christian Life,"
most reluctantly published by him in 1854. Occasionally,
however, he prepared sermons of a more elaborate character, which called for the exercise of ripest thought. These
were delivered from time to time in the regular course of
his ministrations. But only a few of them, preached on
occasions which seemed to require it, have ever been given
to the press. The characteristic of all his preaching was
christian strength. He had no sympathy with sentimentalism, and small tolerance for bigotry. Characterized
himself by breadth, strength and manliness of mind and
character, he sought to lift his congregation to the same
plane.
The parish at Hartford, under the faithful labors of its
youthful pastor, began to grow, and after a few years
attained such a size that it required the work of more than
one pastor. It became evident that it must be divided.
This is proverbially a trying time for the rector of the old
congregation, and the first division of the old parish is too
frequently attended with heart-burnings and disagreements.
Nothing of all this, however, occurred in the present case.
The necessity of a division was apparent, and it was
accomplished as a friendly separation, the intercourse
between the parishes and their rectors being placed from
the first on the most cordial footing. At the end of Mr.
Burgess' first year in charge of his parish, October, 1834,
it numbered one hundred and seventy-two families, and
two hundred and ten communicants; in 1841, when the
division was effected, four hundred and forty-one families
and three hundred and twelve communicants. Of these,
one-third went to form the new parish; but their numbers
were more than made good again, and he finally left the
parish in 1847, to become the first Bishop of Maine, with
the names of four hundred and two communicants on his
list. During the whole of his thirteen years' ministry in
Hartford he received over seven hundred and fifty persons




ET. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      437
into the communion of the church, and in place of the one
parish he found in the city there are now seven.
In the midst of his faithful and abundant labors in his
own parish, he was always ready for extra work for others.
Judge Huntington, an early parishioner, and always a
faithful friend, writes: "He was most remarkable for the
"employment of all his hours. By this means his own
"work was always done, and he had time, whenever called
"upon, to do for others. He never declined any duty or
"labor consistent with his position. So well known was
"this trait in his character, that clergymen of the various
"denominations in Hartford, when called upon for the
"performance of duties by persons not connected with any
"church, not unfrequently sent the applicant to Mr.
"Burgess, knowing as they did, that he was always ready
"for any extra service."
Such ministerial services, whether within or without his
parish, constituted by no means the only claims at this
period upon his time and his attention. He took a lively
interest, as a citizen, in all that was going on around him.
The taste for historical investigation which had marked
his earliest studies, and continued unabated to the end of
life, made him in Connecticut, as in Maine, a valued
contributor to the Historical Society. His poetical abilities
led to his being several times called upon to prepare and
deliver poems in public. Two of these were published:
"The Martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul," delivered
before the Phi Beta Kappa of Brown University; and
"The Strife of Brothers," a poem filled with the very spirit
of heavenly charity, written in view of certain controversies
then existing in the church in which he was personally and
deeply interested. Others, as his poetical sketch of sacred
poetry, delivered before the convocation of the college in
Hartford, are still remembered with something like enthusiasm by men, eminent now, but who were then among his
juvenile listeners. In regard to the particular power men



438             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
tioned, Bishop Williams, in 1867, writes: "The graceful
"Spenserian stanza, swelling onward'till the ninth billow
"'meets the shore,' was properly adapted to the tones and
"modulations of his voice, and fell in wonderfully with his
"modest personal allusions and general line of thought. I
"have heard many poems delivered in my day, but never one
"that impressed me more than the one of which I speak.
"There are passages in it that ring in my memory to-day
"as clearly and as freshly as they rang upon my ear more
"than twenty years ago." From these and the recollections of others, it would appear that the poetical power of
Bishop Burgess was great enough to have insured him a
high rank among poets, had not his busy and useful life
otherwise absorbed his attention. The published poems
he has left were only his recreations, not his serious work.
Tle smoothness and finish of his verse was perhaps the
consequence of his wonderful power over the English language; but he had also in a marked degree the higher
gifts which constitute the true poet. These, however, were
made entirely subservient to the great purpose of doing his
Master's work, and his view of duty led him to the employment of his powers in other ways. Still from time to time
he gave some indulgence to the muse, and one of the fruits
of this was a metrical version of the Book of Psalms (1840)
-a publication not to be confounded with another and
later one (1864), "The American Metrical Psalter," in which
he undertook to give from all sources the best version in
metre of the Psalms.
Meantime Dr. Burgess was in the habit of contributing
valuable articles to various magazines and periodicals, of
which no list has been preserved. But his deepest interest,
outside of parochial duties, was in the college in Hartford,
at first called Washington, but now Trinity College. During the first seven years of his rectorship, when there was
no other Episcopal church in the city, the officers and
students of the college were his parishioners. His visits




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      439
among the undergraduates were frequent and his influence
over them most effective, although always, as was a necessity of his nature, unobtrusive. In his parochial report
for 1837, it is recorded that more than thirty of them were
communicants. So strong was his interest in the college,
and so obviously important his influence there, that this
connection constituted one of his reasons for hesitancy
when elected to the episcopate in Maine. He not only
took some part in the instructions of the college, but he
also gladly gave private lessons in Hebrew to a small class
of students looking forward to the ministry. The character of his influence upon young men is happily expressed
in the following extract from an account given of it by one
originally a candidate for orders in his diocese, but now
himself a bishop in a distant part of the church: "Bishop
"Burgess had some peculiar qualifications for interesting
"young men. He was sympathetic in his nature. Ie was
"gentle and considerate in his intercourse. He could give
" advice or administer reproof without seeming to dictate,
" and impart instruction without appearing to exact a feeling
"of humiliation. His words and manner, like the expres"sion of his countenance, were the index of his kindness of
"heart and sweetness of disposition.  His conversation
"was full of seeds of thought. It was to an extraordinary
"degree animating and inspiring. One could not be long
"in his presence without a feeling of elevation, and an im"pulse to higher and nobler living. His influence is not to
"be explained by his intellectual character alone, great as
"this was. The impression that he made was preeminently
"that of saintliness. It was felt that his plane of living
"was higher than that of ordinary christians. You took
"knowledge of him that he had been with Jesus. His
"whole mind and heart were engrossed with the motives,
"the aims, the work of his apostolic office. He lived in a
" spiritual atmosphere, and that atmosphere ever surrounded
"him. He seemed to exalt you to sit with him in the




440             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Christian young men,
"whose privilege it was to enjoy his friendship, will all
"agree in this testimony. They went forth from his pres"ence, or rose from the perusal of his letters even, with
"better resolves, with higher aims, with an increase of
"strength for devotion to study, and for manly and christ"ian living."
It is more than time to pass from this period in the life
of Bishop Burgess. Before doing so, however, a note must
be made of the publications for which he found time while
so abundantly occupied in many other ways. Five of
his sermons were published, the last of them being one
preached at the annual meeting of the General Board of
Missions, in New York, June 18th, 1845-a sermon that
produced a very wide and deep impression. Besides these,
and besides his articles in periodicals, his separate publications were mostly poetical, and have been already
incidentally mentioned: "The Martyrdom of St. Peter and
"St. Paul," a poem before the Phi Beta Kappa Society at
Brown University; "The Book of Psalms, translated into
"English verse, with notes," 1840; and "The Strife of
"Brothers," published anonymously in 1844. In 1847, he
published his "Pages from the Ecclesiastical History of
"New England, during the century between 1740 and 1840,"
in which was traced, with wonderful research, among contemporary documents, the rise and progress of Unitarianism
in New England. This publication awakened some temporary animosity towards its author; but in a letter written at
the time he says of it himself: " In writing it, I was governed,
"I believe, by no other feeling than a simple, honest desire
"to contribute something which might be read, towards the
"illustration of a great movement, which has involved more
"or less the highest interests of the people of New Eng"land."
In October, 1847, Dr. Burgess was elected to the
episcopate in Maine. Virtually the election was deter



RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      441
mined with unanimity some months in advance, although
there were canonical reasons why, formally, it could neither
be made earlier nor deferred later, so that when it was
finally completed and announced, Dr. Burgess had already
had ample time for consideration, and had only to
communicate the result. His previous deliberation had
been very earnest, and his conclusion was based on the
most unselfish grounds. There were but seven clergymen
to greet the arrival of their Bishop, and the whole number
of communicants in his diocese was but little in excess of
that in his parish at Hartford. To provide for his support
it was necessary that he should take charge of a parish, in
every way less attractive than the one he resigned, and at
a much smaller salary, while his Episcopal income was
fixed by himself at two hundred dollars a year, as large a
sum as, in his view, the diocese could conveniently pay.
Nevertheless, he deemed it his duty to accept the election,
which was readily confirmed in the general convention,
and on his birthday, October 31st, 1847, was consecrated,
in the church of which he had been so long the rector, as
the first Bishop of the diocese of Maine. His removal to
Gardiner followed immediately, and he there undertook
also, the rectorship of that parish.
Of this rectorship it is unnecessary to speak at length.
During the eighteen years of its continuance it was marked
by the same characteristics as have already been seen in
Hartford. The town was far smaller, the church smaller,
and the circle of cultivated society more limited. It was
also more remote from the centres of commercial and
intellectual activity, and the opportunities for the growth
of the church far more restricted. But the preaching of
the Bishop was characterized by the same earnest unfolding of the manly christian life, and his parochial
ministrations by the same faithfulness and untiring
assiduity. As a citizen, he indeed occupied a more prominent place in a smaller community, and in his earnestness
56




442             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
as a clergyman he never lost sight of the fact that he was
also a member of the state. While he utterly abstained
from what would be called "taking part in politics," he
yet never hesitated on proper occasions to express his
convictions. During the trying times of our civil war, he
was perfectly open in the warmth of his patriotic expression,
yet this was done with such evident conscientiousness, and
withal with so much of kindness and courtesy, that he
alienated neither the respect nor the affection of prominent
parishioners whose sympathies were strongly with the
south. At elections he always considered it his duty to
exercise his franchise, and he was the more respected for
doing so; and he was always perfectly open and full in the
declaration of his property to the assessor of taxes. When
he passed away he was regretted as a citizen without
reproach, and his personal influence upon the community
in which he lived continued to survive him. He never
suffered profanity to fall upon his ear as he was travelling,
or in the street without rebuke, and such was the power of
his presence that the rebuke was never received in an
unkindly,-sometimes in a most grateful spirit. In everything which interested the community he felt an interest,
and the influence of his pen or his tongue was sure to be
felt on the side of kindness, honor and uprightness.
During the continuance of the civil war there was something
alnost romantic in his patriotism. He always bowed to
everyone who wore the blue coat of the union army, and
being asked by his little girl why he did so, wrote in
answer, lines, the opening and closing stanzas of which
may be quoted in illustration of his motive:
"You asked me, little one, why I bowed
Though never I passed the man before?
Because my heart was full and proud
When I saw the old blue coat he wore;
The blue great coat, the sky blue coat,
The old blue coat the soldier wore.




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      443
*   *   *   *   *   *   *    *   *
"And so, my child, will you and I,
For whose fair home their blood they pour,
Still bow the head, as one goes by,
Who wears the coat that soldier wore;
That blue great coat, the sky blue coat,
The old blue coat the soldier wore."
His Episcopal office, during the eighteen years of its
continuance, was discharged faithfully and unostentatiously, as might have been expected from his character.
Every parish, every clergyman, and every candidate for
orders was personally known to him, and all looked to him
with unbounded affection and respect. His counsel and
his sympathy were ever ready, and were freely called upon.
Feeble parishes and needy students were liberally aided
by his purse to an extent that would have been impossible
but for his practice of a very simple and economical style
of living. In proportion to his means he was probably by
far the most liberal giver in his diocese. Yet in this he
was not indiscriminate; the same judiciousness which
marked his conduct in other respects, was also conspicuous
here. This only failed when his kindness of heart made
him shrink from enforcing pecuniary obligations which it
was onerous to others to meet.
But except as affected his own pecuniary inerests, he
was firm and unflinching. Nothing could divert him from
the discharge of the full measure of what he conceived to
be his duty. The forgetfulness of self, the readiness to
undergo fatigue, the readiness to spend and be spent in the
service of his Master, made this comparatively easy when
he was himself the only sufferer. It is now easy to see
that he carried this too far, and that, humanly speaking,
years of usefulness might have been added to his life by an
ordinary regard to the necessities of rest and relaxation.
His fault in this matter however, was by no means a false




444             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
estimate of the value of life or of the duty of caring for
health, but only that he was too intensely absorbed in his
work to see that health and life were endangered when
this was already too evident to every other eye. He did
not expect from others either the labor or the self-denial
he exacted from himself; but when he saw those over whom
he had influence or authority negligent in what seemed to
him obvious duty, his reproofs, although given in kindness,
were yet searching and unsparing. Such reproofs may
have been in some rare cases unjust and undeserved, for it
is given to no man always to understand the reasons for the
conduct of another; but they were given from such an
obvious sense of duty, and with such genuine kindness
towards the offender, albeit with the sharpest rebuke of
the offence, that they never were received in an unkindly
spirit.
He left his diocese small as compared with other dioceses,
but relatively large as compared with its condition when it
came under his charge. The parishes and the clergy both
increased threefold, and the communicants of the church
in the same proportion. The actual number of admissions
to the communion of the church was really considerably
larger, for Maine is not a state which-receives any considerable accessions from beyond its borders, while on the other
hand it is called upon to sustain a very large emigration,
and this especially from that more active class from whom
the church might be expected chiefly to make its acquisitions. Bishop Burgess never aimed, however, at a mere
numerical increase of his charge as a desirable end; he
sought to advance the gospel "as this church hath received
"the same," but first and before all, the gospel. Even to
an applicant from the ministry, of another denomination,
his first replies were too cautious to be considered as
encouraging, and encouragement only came when he was
satisfied that the mind of the applicant was decided on
grounds not easily shaken.




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      445
It was his custom in the administration of confirmation
to request the candidates to. remain a few moments after
the service. They were then made known to him individually, and to each he spoke a few appropriate words.
During the whole course of his episcopate he never forgot
one whom he had thus addressed.
It generally happened that the Bishop had near him one
or more candidates for orders, (at one time as many as six)
who were pursuing their studies under his direction, and in
part, at least, under his own immediate instruction. For
the duties involved in this he was qualified by his rich and
varied scholarship, and although he disliked and shrank
from the mere office of the pedagogue, he proved a most
efficient and valuable guide and director, and also in his
own peculiar way, a most efficient instructor. His teaching
of ecclesiastical history, his favorite study, may serve as an
example of his method. The students recited from the
usual textbooks to another, and also, for the most
important epochs, were required to study the original
authorities. They then went to the lectures of the Bishop.
These were delivered without notes, and with but little of
special preparation, from the fulness of his most intimate
knowledge of the subject. "His plan was to divide each
"century into three spaces, each embracing the ordinary
"lifetime of a generation, and through the whole of which
"individual men might have been active in carrying on by
"themselves, and in handing down to others who were to
" succeed them, the work and life of the church. A personal
"chain of labor, of teaching, and of authority, was thus
"established, reaching from the ministry of our Lord
"Himself, down to our own day. Beginning with the
"generation who were alive during the Saviour's own
"sojourn upon earth, and some of whom    knew Him
"personally in the flesh, he devoted one lecture of an hour
"to each of the fifty-six generations since. The object of
"the lecture was to give a brief, comprehensive view of the




446             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"church, and of the world in its relations to the church
"during that generation. The individual actors and
"writers in each were brought prominently forward and
"portrayed by a few graphic touches, while their personal
"connections and influences were never lost sight of. The
"hearer was transported into the midst of the generation
"described, and led to look out from the stand-point of
"those who were then alive; to think and feel for the
"moment with them; to see what were their purposes and
"aims, and to recognize the consequences resulting from
" their acts. Amid all the mass and variety of matter thus
"necessarily brought forward, attention was especially
"called to individual christians who had personally known
"and conversed with others of the previous generation,
"whom he had in the same way pointed out in the pre"ceding lecture, and who were themselves in like manner
"known to men of the generation following. In this way a
"direct line of personal knowledge was traced from the
"speaker and the hearer to the very presence of our Lord.
"The possibility of ascertaining such a line might be
"doubted beforehand; it was accomplished by the Bishop
"with certainty and security. Great as is the interest and
"value of such a thread, it would seem that in the tangled
"web of human affairs it must needs be sometimes lost,
"and the extensiveness and minuteness of the Bishop's
"learning became very conspicuous in his ability to trace
"it out completely. The difficulties were often great, and
"especially where the link between prominent actors of
"history was to be sought out in obscurity; but these he
"never failed to overcome, and the long chain of personal
"acquaintance through all the centuries of the christian
"era was finally established on an unquestionable basis.
"It was an especial delight to him when some long life,
"such as that of the beloved disciple, enabled him to link
"two or three generation together by a twofold cord, and
"thus, as it were, to bridge over a generation and bring the




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      447
"one beyond it into immediate conduct with the one
"before."*
In other departments of study his methods were equally
well adapted to their end; and although his learning was
most extraordinary in the department of history, it was
remarkable in all, except in the natural sciences, for which
he had no taste. The actors in English history were all
personally familiar to him in all their family connections
and individual relations. His copy of Burke's Peerage
was a well-thumbed volume, constantly resorted to to
refresh his knowledge of the relationships and affinities of
those who occupied a prominent place in guiding the
destinies of our mother country. French, from his early
study, and German, from his three years residence in
Germany during his last preparatory studies, were entirely
familiar to him, and were of constant use in placing at his
disposal the treasures of their literature. The Greek and
Latin classics, from economy of time, he did not read
much except in translations; but his Greek testament was
always in his valise when he travelled, as well as on his
table at home, and was the text he was accustomed to use
in his more familiar lectures. He was so conversant with
its exact language as often to quote it from memory,
readily and accurately, whenever in conversation the
discussion of any particular point made it desirable. The
Hebrew Bible he had read through systematically in his
early ministry, and his familiarity with it was daily
renewed. On one occasion he was unexpectedly examining
a candidate for orders where there happened to be but one
Hebrew Bible in the room. This was given to the student
who selected his own passage to read and translate, the
Bishop without a book, correcting his Hebrew or prompting
the translation as there was occasion. With the English
* Memoir of the life of the Right Rev. George Burgess, edited
by the Rev. A. Burgess, D. D., p. 291.




448             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Bible he was so familiar as never to need, or even to own
a concordance. With the period between the times of the
Old and New Testament histories he was thoroughly
familiar from study of the original authorities. The fathers
of both the eastern and western church, in the originals
had not only been once mastered by him, but from time to
time he was accustomed to make a special study of the
views of some prominent writer upon particular subjects,
and for this purpose to go over the whole of their voluminous works. Thus, for example, within a year or two of his
death, he reviewed the whole works of Tertullian, copying
out all passages bearing even remotely upon the subjects
of infant baptism and the liturgy of the church.
Sermons of the great English divines, as Tillotson,
Atterbury, Taylor, Beveridge, Sherlock, Waterland and
others, and of the leading dissenters, as Owen, Flavel and
Baxter, and also of the great French pulpit orators,
Massillon, Bourdaloue, and Bossuet, were read and re-read
until each stood in his mind in his own individuality, and
the habits of thought and expression of each were distinctly
familiar. Meantime he kept himself thoroughly conversant
with the doings of his own generation. The daily city
papers and the daily London Times, together with several
weekly American and English newspapers, both religious
and secular, and the larger reviews, were read, rapidly
indeed, but regularly and attentively. To his power of
reading  with  extreme  rapidity  he  attached  much
importance, and he had acquired the habit by long and
systematic practice. There was always on his table some
solid theological work of the day in German or English, as
the case might be, and day by day his work in them was
advanced by many pages. The whole collection of British
poets was read through many times, and in the quiet of the
family circle pages of his favorites were occasionally
repeated from memory. With the standard English prose
writers he was not less at home; and lighter current




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      449
literature, as books of travels, memoirs, and the better
class of fiction was reserved for reading aloud in the family.
This wide scope of reading, and this constant perusal and
re-perusal of the best authors, led to that peculiar beauty
and finish of his style which attracted the attention and
excited the admiration of those who were themselves
masters of English. On one occasion Mr. George Ticknor,
the author of "Spanish Literature," read three times
through a pamphlet of Bishop Burgess on a subject utterly
without interest to him, simply to enjoy the beauty of its
language. All this, however, fails to convey a just conception of the many-sidedness of his scholarship. He
sought an intimate personal acquaintance with the masters
of thought of every age and of every school. Such writers
as Alcuin, Alfric, and Thomas Aquinas are not often known
either to theologians or to philosophers from a genuine
study of their own writings, yet Bishop Burgess was
familiar with them all.
In all his studies his single aim was truth. Doubtless
his singularly well balanced mind made it easier to carry
this purpose faithfully into practice. But beyond this he
had such a deep, abiding conviction of the value of truth,
and such a pervading consciousness that the interests of
the Master whom he served were not to be permanently
advanced by anything but the truth, that he had no
motive for misleading either himself or others. Hence in
argument he was always fair, and this habitual fairness
gave to others great confidence in him personally, and
increased the strength of his position on any controverted
matter. Especially in his instructions he could afford to
allow and to invite the most free and full investigation, and
all who enjoyed his teaching were altogether sure that no
point would be slurred over in order to lead the mind
quickly away from dangerous ground, and that no fascinating theories would be proposed as truth by all means
to be received, without thorough examination of their
57




450             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
grounds. Above all, there was never any attempt to
overawe a younger mind, and force it into agreement with
himself by the show of larger learning and superior wisdom.
Yet this freeness of investigation was tempered by a strong
conservative spirit, with a reverence for, and generous
appreciation of the results attained in ages that had gone
before. There was no trace of wilfulness or self-sufficiency
in the formation of his opinions.
It may well be supposed that a man of such character
and habits would have attracted around him a superior
class of clergy. He actually did so, although from the
remoteness of his diocese and the smallness of the stipends
which most of its parishes could offer, and the very
reputation they bore, they were apt to be enticed away
after a few years to more inviting fields of labor. Not less
than three of those trained in parochial work under his
eye were themselves afterwards called to the episcopate,
while several others have since occupied positions of great
importance in the church. The very fact of the migratory
character of his clergy, while it greatly increased the
arduousness of his own labor, really extended his influence
far and wide. While they remained under his episcopal
supervision nothing could have been more delightful than
the intercourse held with him, and, through his influence,
with one another. However the members of their body
might change, they were still a band of brothers engaged
in one common and all-important work, and he moved
among them as an elder brother, sharing all their toils, and
fully sympathizing in all their trials, but with a fullness of
learning, a ripeness of wisdom, and above all a maturity of
christian character and experience that gave them confidence in his modest and kindly counsels and suggestions.
The Bishop had always an instinctive horror of incurring
obligations which he did not clearly see the way to fulfil.
This may sometimes have made him too cautious for the
attainment of the most rapid results in a work which was




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      451
essentially that of a pioneer; but financially, it certainly
saved him and all the undertakings in his diocese over
which he had control, from that millstone upon prosperity,
the incurring of unprovided for indebtedness.
But while the subject of Bishop Burgess' influence and
character in his own diocese is far enough from being
exhausted, our limits warn us to turn to his position in a
wider sphere, as he was a member of the House of Bishops.
To say that his influence there was a commanding one
would only be to assert what must already be apparent.
His character, scholarship, and earnest, unaffected piety,
in connection with principles of human nature which are
sufficiently familiar, could not but give him influence with
his colleagues. But it is evident that in such a body as
the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church, the moral
power of any one prominent member must greatly increase
with his age in office. The average official life of the
bishops is about seventeen years, and Bishop Burgess
fully reached, and even somewhat exceeded this term.
Undoubtedly the peculiar temptation to one holding an
office which so much separates him from his fellows, and
invests him with so much responsibility, is the love of
power; and that this is not merely theoretical but practical,
is evidenced by the proverbs which, at least since the days
of Hudibras, have been embodied in the popular language.
Of this temptation he was aware, and against it he stood
on his guard, although his whole life was free from any
evidence of its assaults. In his sermon at the consecration
of Bishop Williams, afterwards published, he showed
himself thoroughly alive to this danger. He felt that the
temptation came with peculiar power, because each single
bishop was the representative of a line, and although he
might willingly forego the exercise of any particular power
for himself, it was quite another matter to abandon it for
his successors. The fairness and consideration for the
rights of others which characterized him, once led him




452             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
into a minority of two against the whole house of his
brethren on a question of this kind, when, nevertheless, the
view he sustained ultimately became the law of the church.
Besides his general powerful influence among his
brethren in office, and especially in their stated gatherings
for legislation as a part of the general convention of the
church, and in the board of missions, there were those
prominent subjects in which he took so active a part that
they can hardly be passed over without mention in this
sketch of his life. The first of these is the most painful,
and led for a time to much misunderstanding of his character and motives. It was at a time when there was much
partisan feeling in the church, and Bishop Burgess, so far
as with his independent character he could be classed at
all, was reckoned with the low church party. Under these
circumstances a prominent, popular and very high church
bishop was accused of practices affecting his moral
character, and a considerable array of primafacie evidence
was offered in support of the charges. It was necessary
under the existing law of the church that three bishops
should concur in presenting the accused for trial. The
matter was taken up by two bishops of the extreme low
church wing, but they required a third. Under the
circumstances no one could be found who was willing to
incur the odium. To the friends of the accused Bishop
the whole accusation seemed to rest upon a prejudiced
misinterpretation of the conduct of the accused, and that
the charges would never have been presented but for the
excitement of partisan strife. Application was made to
Bishop Burgess. He distinctly foresaw the misconstruction of his motives which would be sure to result, and
the false position in which he was likely to be placed in
the estimation of a considerable body of his fellow
churchmen. Nevertheless, here were grave charges brought
against the character of a brother bishop supported by the
affidavits of responsible men. He felt that alike in justice




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      453
to the accused, and for the fair name of the episcopate,
they ought to be thoroughly investigated. No one was
willing to undertake the invidious task, and with that
chivalric forgetfulness of self which was his characteristic,
he consented to become one of the presentors. It was so
painful an act, and accompanied by so many trying circumstances that all his friends observed a marked and
permanent change in the Bishop when it was over. The
ultimate result was that the accused confessed to certain
things which might have been exaggerated and wrested
into the charges actually made, and the House of Bishops,
who constituted the court, admonished him and then
suspended all further proceedings. But the prejudice
created against Bishop Burgess by this most reluctant yet
conscientious action, has never yet been fully removed.
The next subject alluded to was of a very different
character. A memorial, originating with the Rev. Dr,
Muhlenberg of New York, was brought before the House of
Bishops, looking on the one hand to greater flexibility in the
services of the church, and on the other to the encouragement of an approach to unity among christians of various
names, who held, nevertheless, substantially the same
faith. This memorial engaged the warm sympathy and
active cooperation of Bishop Burgess, who was appointed
one of a permanent commission of the House of Bishops on
christian unity. In respect to both the parts of the
memorial he did a work which has left a permanent impress
upon the position and the legislation of the church.
In connection with the hymnody of the church, (the
third and last of the subjects alluded to,) his part was still
more active, and he bestowed upon it an almost incredible
amount of labor. First as a member of a volunteer committee he took a large share in the preparation of a volume
called "Hymns for Church and Home," to be submitted to
the general convention. This led to the appointment of a
formal committee on the subject, renewed from time to




454             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
time, of which Bishop Burgess continued until his death
the acting chairman. The labors of the active members of
this committee were very great, but the Bishop excelled
them all. The final result was reached only after his
death, but he lived to see much important work
accomplished. It was in connection with this that he
undertook alone a collation of all the complete versions of
the psalms in metre which have attained any position in
the English language. He examined them all, eighteen in
number, verse by verse and line by line, and selecting and
combining what seemed most excellent in each, wrote out
and published "The American Metrical Psalter." The
comparison and selection of eighteen versions, each of one
hundred and fifty psalms, would be very far from representing the actual labor; for not merely were the best
versions of each psalm as a whole selected, but single lines
or even words, were adopted from each. And yet even
this was but incidental to the main work on hymnody.
It was often remarked of Bishop Burgess that with all
the amount of work which he accomplished, he was never
in a hurry, and never too much occupied to receive anyone
who called at his study, or to devote to them as much of
his time as they were disposed to occupy. Yet, although
he sometimes sat late in his study, he was not ordinarily
an early riser. The great secret of his work lay in his
absolute command over his own mind, and his power of
using as he wished absolutely all the time at his disposal.
Most of his separate publications during his residence in
Maine have been already mentioned. Several tracts
connected with his work were issued, together with a
number of sermons on various special occasions, and others,
of both classes, have been published since his death. His
triennial charges to his clergy, six in number, were all of
permanent value, and have become a part of the literature
of the church. In 1850 he published a volume of three
hundred and thirty pages, designed to remove from the




RT. REV. GEORGE BURGESS, D. D.      455
minds of christians the popular dread of death, entitled
"The Last Enemy Conquering and Conquered;" and in
1854, a volume of sermons. He, however, prepared and
left behind him several other works, some of which have
since been published. Of one of great value on the sources
of the gospel of St. Luke, only about twenty pages were
printed in the American Church Review. A curious and
instructive evidence of his diligence was a list left by him
in manuscript, (since published under the editorial care of
Rev. W. S. Bartlett,) of the date of all ordinations in the
American Episcopal Church from the beginning up to
A. D. 1857. In 1868 a volume of his poems was published
containing several of those which have here been mentioned, with a considerable additional collection. One of
these, "The Hours," had been published during his life,
and although very brief, attracted at the time much
attention. His contributions to the Maine Historical
Society are upon their records, but his many and valuable
contributions to the reviews and magazines' of the day can
probably now never be collected. He left behind him, too,
manuscripts of works more or less completely finished,
which alone might have been considered as giving a
sufficient account of an ordinarily busy life. The great
effectiveness of his life in his literary, as well as in his other
labors, was no doubt largely due to the eight years of
faithful preparation between his graduation from college,
and his ordination to the deaconate,-a period nearly three
times as long as is generally considered sufficient, but
which in its fruits was abundantly proved to have been
time well spent.
But his work was done far more by his living influence,
action and example, than through the press. No epitaph
more true has ever been written than that which his parish
placed upon the tablet erected in their church to his
memory:




456             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"Learned, judicious, saintly;
"Living for Christ and the church;
"Loving all, beloved by all;
"Faithful in every trust, even unto death."
His death, occurred at sear April 23d, 1866, on board a
vessel in which he had just embarked on his return home
after a visitation of the Protestant churches in Hayti,-a
visitation which he faithfully and laboriously accomplished.
in great physical weakness. Thus faithful to the last, he
died as he had lived, with the harness of his Master's
service ever upon him. His character cannot better be
summed up than in the words of a Phi Beta Kappa oration
pronounced a year later in Hartford, by the Rev. Dr.
Rudder: "I see another standing by this altar,-my
"pastor, my gentle critic, and my friend. Learned, yet
"humble, so humble that men guess not half how learned
"he is; meek, yet firm, so firm in what he believes to be
"the right that they cannot imagine even the wells of utter'tenderness that are forever springing in his breast; the
"man who, of all I have ever known, seems most constantly
"to live in an atmosphere of heaven; the christian scholar,
"the christian poet, the christian priest, soon to be the
"' Bishop, laboring, as such an one must labor, through his
"allotted time, and then, from the calm surface of the
"summer seas, mounting upwards to his rest in the fiery
" chariots of the tropic sun."




NOTICE OF
HON. GEORGE EVANS.
BY R. H. GARDINER, ESQ.,
OF GARDINER.
THE Maine Historical Society has been wont to inscribe
upon its records, in a more or less extended form, a worthy
tribute to its departed members, and the more especially if
they have been prominent in the doings of the society,
and have made a mark on the age in which they lived;
hence it seems passing strange that as yet nothing appears
on our records to commemorate the name of George
Evans, a zealous associate,-one who for so many years as
a trustee of Bowdoin, accomplished so much financially,
and otherwise, for the college, and who for more than
twenty years was the foremost man at the bar in his own
state, and whose fame and influence as a statesman,
throughout the breadth of the land, was second to none.
I had hoped in the course of this paper to have been
able to present some interesting facts relating to the
connection of Mr. Evans with the college. We all know of
his great ability, and of his life-long interest in the college,
but I have applied most earnestly for aid in reference to
this subject, in the only quarters where it could be obtained,
but in vain.
58




458             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
It is much to be regretted that we cannot at this time
have a memoir from one amply fitted to do full justice to
his character, both as a member of the bar, as a statesman,
and a man, and I ask your indulgence for the short and
imperfect sketch I now present, of some of the characteristics of the man whose power and influence at the bar and
in congress was unsurpassed.
In preparing this hasty sketch, I may be compelled to
quote from some of the eulogies published in the papers
of the day, at the time of his death, especially from one
written by the member who now addresses you, and
published in the local paper'of the town where Mr. Evans
made his home for forty years of his life.
Mr. Evans was born in Hallowell, January 12, 1797,
graduated at Bowdoin College in the class of 1815. In
1818, he was admitted to the bar, and immediately took up
his residence in Gardiner. From the moment of entering
upon the practice of his profession, he at once took a
foremost place amidst such rivals as Ruel Williams,
Thomas Bond, Peleg Sprague, Frederic Allen and Timothy
Boutelle. Of his distinguished career at the bar it will be
a fitter task for a member of the profession to speak; but
we may be allowed to say that as a criminal lawyer and a
general advocate, in the opinion of many, he was without a
peer in New England, and we will only allude, in passing,
to the memorable trial of Dr. Coolidge for the murder of
Edward   Matthews. Mr. Evans' masterly defence of
Coolidge is still vividly remembered by all who heard it.
Mr. Evans' political life began by his election to the
legislature in 1825, where for four consecutive years he
took the lead, and in 1829 was speaker, when the opportunity. was afforded him to exhibit his wonderful skill and
t act in organizing and controlling a public assembly.
During the session of 1829, Mr. Sprague, the representative in congress from the Kennebec district, was elected to
the senate. The local papers of Augusta nominated Ruel




HON. GEORGE EVANS.             459
Williams to succeed him. Mr. Evans was nominated by
some of his friends, and a newspaper was started in
Gardiner which vigorously asserted his claims. The
election took place at short notice, at the annual town
meeting in March, when travelling was bad; the vote was
small, and resulted in no choice. A new trial was appointed
to take place in July, and a most energetic and exciting
canvass between the friends of Mr. Williams and Mr.
Evans, took place. In Augusta seven hundred and eleven
votes were thrown; of these seven hundred were for Mr.
Williams. Such was the interest felt in Gardiner, that a
man ill in bed was brought a distance of several miles on a
mattress to the polls. Six hundred and two votes were
cast, of which Mr. Evans received five hundred and ninetyseven. Mr. Evans was elected by two hundred majority.
Both candidates had been voted for by their friends as
whigs; but after his defeat Mr. Williams came out openly,
and joined the democratic party. Seven times successively
Mr. Evans was elected to congress, but after serving twelve
years, and before entering on his next term, he was elected
to the senate, where he remained for six years, having
served in congress for eighteen years consecutively.
During the whole of his twelve years' service in the
house, coincident with the presidency of Jackson and
Van Buren, the whig party was in the minority, consequently he was not, as has been stated, chairman of the
Committee of Ways and Means; but as second on the
committee, he often wielded more power than the chairman,
backed by his large party majority. This was strikingly
exemplified at the close of the session of that congress
which preceded the incoming of President Harrison. The
writer of this happened to be in Washington at the time of
the inauguration of General Harrison, and will never forget
the scene he witnessed in the house of representatives on
the last day and night of the session of the out-going
congress. At such a time the amount of business trans



460             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
acted is immense. Where the democratic majority was so
large, it was astonishing to witness the power and tact with
which Mr. Evans, though a whig, directed and controlled
the house. Every measure advocated by him was passed,
and every one opposed by him was defeated.
During his long service in the house, his power and
influence had constantly been increasing, and his great
speeches upon the protective system in 1832, upon the
removal of the deposits and a national bank in 1834, upon
the failure of the bill for fortifications in 1836, on appropriations for the naval service in the same year, on the
north-eastern boundary in 1838, and upon the bill to
authorize the issue of treasury notes in January, 1841, were
among those which established his position.as a statesman
and leader throughout the country.
The great orator of a past generation in Massachusetts,
Harrison Gray Otis, wrote to Mr. Evans, January 2d, 1834,
in these words: "I venture to present to you my respectful
" congratulations upon your most triumphant, gentlemanly
"and caustic reply to your colleague upon Governor
"Lincoln's resolution. I think I never read a more con"elusive and felicitous impromptu reply in any debate. I
"should think any eel would have coiled under that
"skinning, unless, as the Poissarde at Billingsgate said,
"'they don't mind it when they're used to it."'
It may not be amiss to insert here an extract from one
of his speeches in the house. It was "In Relation to the
"Failure of the Bill making Appropriations for Fortifi"cations," delivered in January, 1836.
Ex-president John Quincy Adams was a member of the
house, and, to the amazement of his friends, had made a
most violent and bitter attack upon Mr. Webster, a
member of the senate. It seemed necessary that some
member of the house should answer it, and Mr. Evans,
though long on intimate and friendly terms with Mr.




HON. GEORGE EVANS.            461
Adams, felt called upon to defend Mr. Webster against
such unjustifiable aspersions.
"The honorable member, with a precision of aim which'leaves nothing of doubt as to whom his shafts were sped,'and whom he describes as'the Achilles' of the senate,
"essays to bring down from   his high standing one
"'representing his own commonwealth, with unsurpassed
"ability, in the other branch of the legislature. The
" attack was little to have been expected from that quarter.' Sir, I shall not attempt encomiums upon that distinguished
4'statesman. It is unnecessary for me,-it cannot be
"required of any man,-to come forward in his defense.
"His character, his services, his actions, his opinions, the'efforts of his transcendent powers are before the world.
" They speak out for him in a voice that cannot be silenced.
" They stand forth in full view, and no man can obscure or
"'blot them from the history of this country. It has been
"exceedingly painful to me to take a part, and especially
"the part I have taken, in this debate. Recollections of
"the past are thronging in my mind, and weigh me down
"in sadness, almost in silence. Gladly would I have been
"spared this day. But, sir, when those whom I hold in
"honor and respect,-whom the country holds high,-high
"in its estimation, are made the object of attack such as
"we have witnessed, I should miserably fail in my own
"sense of duty were I to sit in silence. The day has not
"long gone by since I saw those who now give sanction to
"this attack, and the party to which they belong, gladly,
"ay, anxiously, seeking the aid of the powerful arm of that
"great champion and defender of the constitution; since
"I saw this administration, reeling and tottering as it did
"under the tremendous blows of men of giant strength
"from the chivalric region of the South, beseeching the
"unfailing support of that same undaunted hand. I refer
"to no preceding administrations, which leaned, and leaned




462             BIOGRAPHICAL MOTWES.
"with confidence upon him, as upon a pillar of immovable
"strength; but I wish to tell the honorable member from
Massachusetts, (Mr. Adams,) that not one of the friends
"who now rally round the object of his attack will falter in
"his course. Not one will be shaken in his confidence and
"attachment. We shall stand by him, let who will desert,
"let who will vituperate. But after all, sir, how little is
"there, upon merely personal considerations and prefer"ences, to justify the feelings of anxiety which we cannot
"repress, for the advancement of any man, however able,
"-however estimable. We are admonished of the frailty
"of human attachments and human hopes.
"How wise is it that the future is hid from our view;
"that we cannot lift the veil which shuts out from our
" observation the end of our own best and wisest exertions!
"Much-how much-of our ardor might be abated, how
"might our arms be paralyzed, if we could look beyond the
"present hour, and behold the fulfilment which the future
"holds in store. If, sir, I could raise this impenetrable
"curtain, and look forward to the future as I can look back
"'on the past, ardently as I desire, for the good of our
"common country and for his own fame, and much as I
"would now do to promote the elevation of that distin"guished statesman to the highest places of power, every
"desire might fail, every effort cease. Yes sir, if I should
"see him descending from that lofty eminence, soured,
"disappointed, vindictive,-forgetful of his own character,
"and of the friends who had stood by him in the hour of
"need, if I should see the infirmities of our nature-the
"lower and baser passions-mastering and expelling all
"the noble and generous properties which I know belong
"to his heart, if I should see him betraying and abandoning
"the cause which he now upholds, making his friends to
"hang their heads in very shame and confusion,-I do not
"say, sir, that I would pray Heaven to blast all our efforts
"in the cause of our country, but rather would I see his




rHON. GEORGE EVAN'S           463
sun go down now, even from its high noon, so that it leave
"us a glorious light to cheer, and animate, and guide, and
"to which we could turn our eyes with high and heart"stirring pride; rather would I see this, than to behold
"him putting off the mighty armor of Achilles, which no
"man can wear, to act tis perjured part, who by fraud
"levelled the proud walls of Troy to the dust; rather this,
"far rather, than to see him lingering on the stage of
"political action behind his time,'the derision of his
"'enemies,-the melancholy pity of his friends."'
Upon the inauguration of President Harrison, Mr. Evans
took his seat in the senate, and among the great men of
those days, Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Crittendon, Silas
Wright, Benton and Preston, he assumed and retained a
a most prominent place.. His complete knowledge of
financial matters caused him to be placed upon the
Committee on Finance, at the head of which he presided
during the protracted debate upon the adjustment of the
tariff. The duties of this office were extremely arduous,
and Mr. Evans fully answered the partial expectations of
his friends.
Mr. Clay declined the honor and responsibility of the
position as chairman of that important committee, assigning as the reason that Mr. Evans knew more about the
tariff than any other public man in the United States. A
leading political journal of that day declared "that there
"is probably no man living better acquainted with the
"financial affairs of this country than Mr. Evans."
Daniel Webster, in his speech on the tariff in 1846, thus
alludes to him: "Sir, I have said in my opinion there can
"be no such augmented income relied upon. I will not go
"into this subject at large. It has been satisfactorily, ably,
"I will say admirably presented by gentlemen on this floor
"who have preceded me. I refer particularly to the
"incomparable speech of my friend, a member of the
"senate from the state of Maine. And now Mr. President,




464             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"since my attention has been thus called to that speech,.
"and since the honorable member has reminded us that
"the period of his service within these walls is about to,
"'expire, I take the occasion, even in the senate, and in his,
"own presence, to say that his retirement will be a serious;
"loss to this government and this country. He has been:
"sixteen or eighteen years in the public service. He has
" devoted himself especially to studying and comprehending'
"the revenue and the finances of the country, and he
"understands that subject as well as any gentleman con-'nected with the government since tie days of Crawford
"and Gallatin, nay, as well as either of these gentlemen
"ever understood it.. And I can only say, that,.
"retire when he will, he will carry with him the good
"wishes of every member of this body, the general esteem
"and regard of the country, and the cordial attachment of
"his friends, political and personal."
Among the great measures in which Mr. Evans took an
active part, was.the system of warehousing, which has
proved such a blessing to the commerce of the country.
His persistent efforts overcame the powerful opposition to
the system in the senate.
Miany were the great speeches delivered by him in the
senate. We now call to mind particularly the one upon
the resolutions of Mr. Clay upon the revenue, and the
necessity for increased duties, in 1842, and his answer to
Mr. MeDuffie on the tariff in 1844. Owing very much to
the personal exertions of Mr. Evans, the Ashburton treaty
negotiated by Mr. Webster was assented to by the commissioners from  Maine, who had drawn up a report
refusing her assent, and thus the threatened war with
England was averted. He also took an important part in
the adjustment of the Oregon difficulties between Great
Britain and this country.
In the Harrison canvass of 1840, the democrats, who had
been uninterruptedly in power during the double term of




HON. GEORGE EVANS.            465
General Jackson and the four years of Van Buren, were
overwhelmingly defeated by the whigs, and a clean sweep
was made of every office holder in the country. Mr. Evans
being the only whig in either house of congress from
Maine, had the entire control of every appointment in the
state. Where for thousands of applicants for office, only
hundreds could be appointed, many enemies must be made,
and, at a time of such pressure, it is difficult always to
make judicious selections, and no doubt the course pursued
by some of his nominees was a lasting injury to Mr.
Evans.
At the national convention which nominated General
Taylor for the presidency, Mr. Evans was the prominent
candidate for the vice-presidency; but finally, Mr. Fillmore
received the nomination, and on the death of Taylor
succeeded to the presidency.  At the inauguration of
General Taylor, it was the general wish and expectation of all parties in Maine, and the eyes of a vast
majority of the whole people were from the beginning
turned to Mr. Evans as the individual in all this land best
fitted for the arduous and eminent position of secretary of
the treasury.
To this day but few know through what base means the
country was deprived of the services of one who would have
proved the ablest secretary of the treasury since Albert
Gallatin.
One or two malcontents, jealous of his greatness, and
chagrined that he had carried the Ashburton treaty in
spite of their opposition, drew up a memorial to which,
with all their exertions, they could obtain less than thirty
signatures, and sent it to Mr. Crittenden, when engaged in
forming the cabinet for General Taylor, as the voice of the
whig party of Maine, urging that Mr. Evans should have
no place in the cabinet. This was done with great secrecy,
and the thousands who were expecting the appointment to
be made as a matter of course, knew nothing of it, and the
59




466             BrOGRAPHIrAL NOTUCES.
great state of Pennsylvania pressing her claims, a citizen
of that state was appointed.
After retiring from congress, Mr. Evans devoted himself
to his profession, and to the construction of the Kennebec
Railroad, of which he was the first president, and to his
unwearied and judicious'exertions, the accomplishment of
this enterprise, surrounded by so many difficulties, is
chiefly owing.
Of Mr. Evans' power and eloquence at the bar, as I have
already said, I forbear from speaking, but I have the great
satisfaction of presenting to you a brief paper prepared for
this occasion by one long familiar with his power as a
lawyer, and who is now one of the leaders of the bar in
Boston.
"So large a part of Mr. Evans' professional life was
"devoted necessarily to the discharge of public duties, that
"it was impossible for him to indulge his taste for the
" study of the law to the extent he would have done under
"circumstances more propitious. Yet he was a great
"lawyer, as his friend Mr. Webster was a great lawyer.
"He always had law enough for his case. He was endowed
"with a marvellous quickness of perception, and he had the
"power of applying his mind to the matter in hand, to the
"utter exclusion of all others, which perhaps more than
"any other faculty marks the great man or great advocate.
"He saw at a glance the point upon which his case was to
"turn, and to this point he directed all his energies. He
"never mistook an enemy's outpost for his citadel. In
"clearness of statement, in compactness of argument, and
"in copiousness of illustration, he had few equals. How" ever complicated or important the cause in which he was
"engaged, no one who listened to him was ever heard to
"suggest that his effort was not equal to the occasion, or
"that he had failed to present a single consideration which
"might have rendered his success more certain. In the




EIDON. GEORGE EYAN&S           467
"'trial of jury causes, his tact, knowledge of men, sound
"judgment and practical common sense were conspicuous.
" He resorted to no tricks. He was careful not to prejudice
"Ihis client's cause by badgering or browbeating his
adversary's witnesses. He conducted throughout as if he
"felt he was there to secure the interests of his client, not
"to amuse the crowd; and bound to do his utmost to
"accomplish this object consistent with honor and honesty,
"and equally bound not to transcend this limit. When he
"addressed the jury he made his appeal to their reason,
"never to their passions or prejudices. He seldom
"indulged in rhetorical display, and when he was eloquent,
"' (in the popular sense,) it was because he could not help it.
"Few advocates have possessed in an equal degree the
"power of reconciling evidence apparently conflicting, or
"of educing order out of chaotic complications.
" In the trial of Dr. Coolidge on a charge of murder, he
"was of counsel for the accused. It was a case fitted to
"'call forth all his powers. The defendant was a young
"physician of much promise. His reputation had been
"without taint of suspicion. He had many warm and
"devoted friends. The prosecuting officers deemed the
"'evidence of his guilt overwhelming. The trial occupied
"nine days. When the evidence was in, Mr. Evans
"addressed the jury for seven hours. With such con"summate skill did he deal with the vast mass of
"criminating evidence, that those who had seen no chance
"for the escape of his client began to feel that facts were
"no match for the great advocate, and to fear that a
"terrible crime would go unpunished. He closed with a
"burst of eloquence, clearly unpremeditated, which those
"who heard it will never forget. In the language of an
"English judge,'they were lost in admiration of the
"'strength and stretch of the human understanding.'
Fortunately this great trial was reported and published




468             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
in the Kennebec Journal, and it may be well to insert here
the close of Mr. Evans' address to the jury alluded to
above.
" Gentlemen, I am reluctant to leave this case. I tremble
"when I think how imperfectly I have discharged my duty.
"I tremble in apprehension lest from any neglect or defect
"of mine, this case has not been presented to you aright,
" and yet I know not that I could do more. I have aimed
"at no rhetorical display. Always incapable of it, this is
"the last place, the very last, in which I would attempt it.
"I have aimed to address your understandings,-to speak
"to your minds, your hearts, your consciences. With you
"now rests the responsibility,-mine is ended. Mine has
"been great enough, more is yours. I have made no
" appeal to your sympathies, or your compassion. I invoke
"no compassion beyond that of the laws; merciful and
"humane are they,-no sympathy other than to implore
"you to recollect, while sitting in judgment upon the life of
"the prisoner, that he is a frail, erring man,-to be judged
"by men as frail.
" We are assembled in no ordinary place of justice. We
"are standing in a temple dedicated to the service of the
"most high God, where prayer is wont to be made, and
"blessings invoked, where forgiveness and charity are
" entreated, as we mete them out to others, where all the
"teachings suited to our condition are constantly adminis"tered. I invoke the solemnity of the place and the
" occasion, to impress you with the unspeakable importance
"of so considering and deciding, that the judgment you
" are to pronounce, shall be that of justice and truth, min"gled with mercy and compassion. When your verdict
" shall have been rendered, this vast assemblage will sepa"rate, to meet no more-no more on earth. But once"once more, all will assemble, not to judge, but to be
"judged-to be judged for the deeds done this day. For,
"'I saw,' said the exile at Patmos-' I saw the dead, both




HON. GEORGE EVANS.            469
"' small and great, stand before God; and the books were
"'opened, and the dead, both small and great, were judged
"'out of the things written in the books.' God grant that
" on that occasion the blood of no man be found upon your
"hands! "
In an off hand speech, where tact and eloquence are
essential, probably few men have lived who surpassed Mr.
Evans. As the editor of the Bangor Democrat well said,
"Unlike Webster or Clay, whose equal he was in native
"and acquired greatness, he was wholly unambitious of
"fame. He was great in spite of himself. If he spoke,
" whether at the bar, in the senate, or in the popular forum,
"it was only to effect a present object. He would never
"prepare or revise a speech for the press, and would not
"look at the proof sheets of the reporter. On the occasion
"of a great public meeting we requested in advance the
"manuscript of the speech he was to deliver. He laughed
"heartily at this request, stating that he had never in his
"life written out a word of any political speech he had
" ever made."
I cannot forbear alluding to two occasions when the
peculiar qualifications of Mr. Evans as an orator, alluded
to above, were prominently exemplified, as some of those I
now address can testify.
One of these was upon the occasion of the visit of
President Polk to Maine. As the president, after visiting
Portland and Augusta, was about embarking on board the
steamer at Gardiner, Mr. Evans made a most touching and
eloquent address to Mr. Polk as the president, alluding to
the fact that although during their congressional career
they had always been politically opposed, yet they had ever
maintained a mutual respect for each other, and as the
president, he extended to him a cordial welcome from
Kernnebec and Maine. Mr. Polk so highly appreciated the
a(dres's, that he afterwards observed that in all his tour
tl:lou1gh, not only this state, but the whole country, he had




470             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
never received so touching and generous an address as
this.
The other occasion referred to was the address of
welcome to Daniel Webster. While Mr. Evans was
engaged in the United States court at Wiscasset, he sent a
despatch to Gardiner, saying that Mr. Webster was attending the court, and that Kennebec ought to welcome him.
At very short notice a magnificent dinner was prepared at
the Hallowell House, then just opened and carried on by
Kilburn Robinson, in the style of the Tremont and Revere
Houses. Prominent persons from   Augusta, Hallowell,
Gardiner and Portland, were present to do honor to Mr.
Webster. The time of this dinner was at the moment of
his greatest glory,-not long after his great and memorable
contest in the senate with Hayne of South Carolina, upon
the constitution. When the cloth was removed, a crowd
was collected in expectation of a speech from the great
expounder. Mr. Evans, who presided at the table, rose to
express a hearty welcome from Kennebec to the distinguished guest. Most unfortunately no report of this speech
has ever been published; for such an outpouring of
eloquence for at least an hour, has seldom been heard, and
those who were privileged to listen to it can never forget it.
In the course of his speech he quoted whole passages from
Scott's Ivanhoe, (volume ii., chapter 6,) where Rebecca at
the window describes to the wounded Ivanhoe the
operations of the besiegers of the castle, and as she relates
the exploits of the black knight, (Richard Coeur de Lion,)
wielding the massive battle axe, Ivanhoe exclaims,
"Methought there was but one man in England that might
"do such a deed." Applying this in a masterly manner to
Webster's blows against the enemies of the constitution,
and carrying on the simile, every moment rising in eloquence, he utters Ivanhoe's exclamation, "I would endure
"ten years captivity to fight one day by that good knight's
"side, in such a quarrel as this."




HON. GEORGE EVANS.             471
At the conclusion of this most eloquent address, Mr.
Webster rose, and evinced by his manner how much he
had been affected by it.
He commenced, addressing Mr. Evans, by saying to him
that he had anticipated him in much that he wished to
have said. He spoke for some time, but although everything uttered by Mr. Webster always commanded the
closest attention, yet, following as it did the remarkable
address of Mr. Evans, many of his hearers were disappointed.
We have spoken of Mr. Evans in his public life, and we
have time now merely to refer to his noble qualities as an
individual and a citizen, and must close this most imperfect
sketch, by simply adding that all his fellow townsmen who
remember him must bear witness that he was ever ready
with his purse and his influence to promote every undertaking for the advancement of the interests of his town and
state; and whatever duty was required of him, he cordially
accepted its labors and responsibility. He was always
courteous, and as a friend was ever true, faithful and
generous.








NOTICE OF
HON. WILLIAM WILLIS.
BY PROF. A. S. PACKARD, D. D.,
OF BRUNSWICK.
WILLIAM WILLIS* was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts,
August 31, 1794, the second child of Benjamin and Mary
(McKinstry) Willis. His paternal ancestors were among
the early English settlers of Massachusetts; his maternal
were Scotch-Irish. John McKinstry, (Edinburgh       University, 1712,) his great-grandfather, a clergyman, the first
of the name' who came to this country, arrived August 4,
1718, and settled near Worcester, Massachusetts.     His
grandfather, son of the preceding, became a physician in
Taunton, Massachusetts, and was appointed surgeongeneral of hospitals in Boston, by General Gage. Dr.
* In preparing the following notice of the late Honorable William
Willis, the writer has used freely the "Tribute" to his memory
before the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia,
March 3, 1870, by Charles Henry Hart, Esq., historiographer of the
society, an article prepared for the annual necrology of Harvard
College, of which Mr. Willis was an alumnus, and the diary of Mr.
Willis himself, of the last twenty-six years of his life. The writer,
it may be added, was associated with Mr. Willis for more than forty
years in the Maine Historical Society, and most of that period in the
official relations of the society.
60




474             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
McKinstry died March 21, 1776, aged 43, on board the
"Dutton" hospital ship in Boston harbor, whither he had
gone with his household on the evacuation of the town by
the British. Mr. Willis' family moved to Portland in 1803.
He was fitted for college at Phillips Exeter Academy,
entered Harvard College a sophomore, 1810, and graduated
1813, taking a part in a conference with three others.
After graduation he was entered as student-at-law in the
office of the Honorable Prentiss Mellen, (Harvard College,
1784,) in Portland, whose reputation as a counsellor and
advocate, and subsequently as the first chief justice of the
supreme judicial court of Maine, is a familiar tradition. At
the close of the war of 1812, the family removed to Boston,
and he entered the office of Judge Peter Oxenbridge
Thacher, (Harvard College, 1796.) In 1815 he went abroad
with the prospect of a commercial life in connection with
United States Consul Jarvis, in Lisbon, Portugal; but
relinquishing that project, he returned, completed his legal
studies, was admitted to the Suffolk bar, 1817, and opened
an office in Boston. In 1818 he visited the West Indies,
and spent a few months on the islands Martinique and
Guadaloupe. His letters during these absences gave
indications of the power of close observation and facility
as a writer, which were to be of so much value to him and
to the public. When Mr. Mellen was chosen to the United
States senate from Massachusetts, having observed his
valuable qualifications, he extended to young Willis the
highly complimentary invitation to become a partner in
the extensive and lucrative business of his office. In 1820,
when Maine became a separate state, and Mr. Mellen was
appointed chief justice of the supreme court, the connection
was dissolved, and Mr. Willis continued the practice of his
profession by himself until 1835, when he formed a
copartnership with the late distinguished  Honorable
William Pitt Fessenden, (Bowdoin College, 1823,) which
lasted twenty years. In 1854 his son Henry, (Bowdoin




HON. WILLIAM WILLIS.           475
College, 1851,) was associated with him in the office. After
the death of this son in 1868, he conducted the business of
the office alone.
Mr. Willis was a well-read, able lawyer, and by sterling
integrity, purity and elevation of character, and by his
habits of exactness and accuracy as a counsel and a conveyancer, sustained a high reputation. His fine manners
and gentle courtesy, combined with great sensibility and
kindness of heart, gave grace to the profession and won the
high esteem of his associates. Soon after his return to
Portland as his residence, he became assistant editor of
one of the newspapers of the town, a position which he
held three or four years, and in the discharge of that office
gave an earnest of qualities as a close observer of passing
events and a felicitous and able writer, which distinguished
him so much in subsequent years.
September 1, 1823, Mr. Willis married Julia, daughter
of the late Honorable Ezekiel Whitman, (Brown University,
1795,) chief justice of the court of common pleas, and
afterwards holding the same position in the supreme court
of Maine. Nine children were the issue of this marriage.
The parents survived them all, the mother dying April 2,
1872.
Notwithstanding Mr. Willis might be regarded, to nearly
the last of his life, a busy lawyer, his genuine passion for
historical and statistical research, and for the knowledge of
men, and his singular habits of observation, with his
industrious pen of which the ink never seemed to become
dry, lured him into paths which the jealous genius of the
law is commonly thought to forbid her votaries.
His private diary, begun October, 1844, and continued
with scarce an interruption of its daily entry, to within four
days of his decease, reveals in an interesting and agreeable
way his habits in the particulars already referred to. It
appears from this record that he was accustomed to keep




476             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
a journal at least as early as 1815, but the four folios,
embracing twenty-six years, are all that survive him.
Evidently designed for no eye but his own, it makes known
the man, his outer, and in many points his inner life, his
vigilant observation of passing events, his social habits and
associations, his generous sympathy for friends and
acquaintances, his public spirit, which cherished a lively
interest in whatever affected the welfare of the city, or the
state, or the country, or indeed the world. We gather from
it that no movement was made in the interests of education,
or of any public improvement, social or moral, in the
religious society with which he was connected, in the
Portland Academy, in the athenaeum or public library, the
society of natural history, or the lyceum, in which he was
not ready to participate. When the project of a railroad
was set on foot, his diary shows that he was an active
cooperator, and gave to it the service of several years.
His feeble voice did not allow him to act a prominent part
as a public speaker in large assemblies, but he was prompt
and efficient in committees, or on boards of directors, or
as a trustee, and often as chairman or president. No event
of importance happened at home or abroad which the
record of the day fails to notice; nor the death of a
neighbor, nor of any one, whether of the city or elsewhere,
who by age or position, or any circumstance, attracted his
attention. Lecturers at the lyceum, speakers at political
or religious conventions, the sermons he heard, even to the
texts and the outlines of discourse, are recorded. Incidents
of importance during the war of rebellion, whether of the
field or the cabinet, and changing aspects of the political
state of the country, received a brief and pertinent notice.
The peculiarities of the seasons, and the range of the
thermometer during those twenty-six years, may be
ascertained with considerable accuracy from that diary.
The fact is recorded that he was once summoned as a
witness in court to testify to the state of the weather at a




HON. WILLIAM WILLIS.           477
certain date of a year or two before, from the entry in this
diary. When the death of a public man is noted, there is
often added a brief statement of his age, place of birth, his
parentage, and the leading events of his life. He took
frequent, sometimes distant journeys. The diary contains
a brief journal of travel, with statistical, topographical and
geographical notes of towns and cities he visited, and of
people whom he met. That daily record also shows how
quick his eye was to catch the beauties of the world without. A rich landscape, the storm and the sunshine, and
the radiance of the moon on the beautiful expanse of the
harbor, the bursting bud, the blooming flowers, the verdure
of trees and fields, the promise of the summer, the condition
of his vinery or his garden, the ripening of his grapes and
plums and pears, and the ingathering of the harvest, are all
recompensed for the delight they gave him by the faithful
record when the day was done. We learn from the same
source what books he read and the impression they made.
This diary, it must be added, leads one who knew him well
to wish he had known him more, and to regret that
opportunities to cultivate so valuable an acquaintance had
not been more faithfully improved.
Such habits of observation and of recording impressions
of what he saw and heard and read, contributed essentially
to prepare Mr. Willis for a work often consoling to friends,
always valuable to the public. He was in a remarkable
degree the historiographer of Portland, and indeed of the
state. Of later years scarcely an individual of any note,
and, it may be said, of either sex, often, too, one little
known beyond the neighborhood has passed away, but an
obituary notice has appeared, not unfrequently in the next
issue of the press, singularly full and exact, of the parentage
and life of the deceased. It was said of him by a former
pastor, "that family trees stood in his ready memory from
" which to take, as opportunity offered, that which should
"instruct his fellow men." As illustrating his propensity




478             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
to ascertain facts respecting those with whom he was
associated, a gentleman of high standing, who was a member of the legislature when Mr. Willis was in the senate
and was a fellow-boarder, told the writer that Mr. Willis
used to inquire of him the age, place of birth, and other
particulars respecting members of the legislative bodies,
and even requested him to obtain for him the information
he sought, stating that it was his custom to ascertain such
facts and make a record of them, and this gentleman
thought that hardly two weeks of the session had passed
before Mr. Willis- had thus informed himself respecting
every member of both houses, and of the governor's
council. It needs not to be said of such a man, and yet it
is pleasant to testify regarding the diary so often referred
to, that it records nothing betraying a suspicious or
unfriendly spirit, or that can be accounted as gossip.
Mr. Willis was a constant contributor, to his last day, to
the daily press, as well as to periodical journals of a
historical character. Obituary notices, as has already been
stated, articles designed to promote projects of public
utility, as that of a railroad, or a society for the relief of the
poor, or a public dispensary, or on the passing season as
contrasted or compared with seasons of past years, even of
the preceding century, which he gathered from his own
journal or those of the Rev. Thomas Smith and Dr. Deane,
or notices of publications to which he wished to invite
attention, or historical reminiscences of some old mansion
which had been taken down to make way for the convenience or improvement of the growing city, were
constantly appearing.
Much might be learned of the topography, if it may be
so called, of Portland in its early period, from the newspaper articles, "Journey from Montjoy to Bramhall."  The
disastrous conflagration of July 4, 1866, furnished a subject
for several articles, one of them, entitled "A Walk Among
"the Ruins," of peculiar interest, and highly valuable as a




HON. WILLIAM WILLIS.           479
record of the devastation, and for the comparison which
none but he could have drawn of that calamity with the
historic event of 1775, when the town was bombarded and
burnt by Mowatt and the British fleet. So also the visit of
the English squadron, October, 1860, to the harbor of
Portland to receive the Prince of Wales for his home
voyage after his tour through Canada and the United
States, gave him the opportunity to contrast in a very
agreeable manner, in a newspaper article, the visits of the
British fleets of 1775 and 1860. Yolumes of such contributions from his pen might be collected. In fact he had
preserved a large portion of them for his own purpose, in
scrap books bearing the inscription, "Newspaper Articles
"frol 1825," &c.
So constantly was the public interested and instructed
by communications with his well-known signature, that the
readiness and copiousness of his resources became a
perpetual surprise. One secret of this fertility is revealed
by the public library of the city of Portland, to which Mr.
Willis bequeathed a large portion of his library and his
manuscript. There may be seen in that depository of his
treasures a folio volume of genealogical and biographical
sketches and memoranda, containing the material, always
at hand, of such notices of individuals as so often surprised
by their prompt appearance and their fulness of detail. It
is scarcely an exaggeration to affirm that no individual of
prominence in the state, it might perhaps be added, of
neighboring states, would have deceased within the last
years, of whom those papers would not furnish a more full
record of parentage and life than is usually given in the
notices of the press. And so of his communications on
historical and local topics. These bound volumes of his
papers reveal the methods which ensured the remarkable
breadth, minute accuracy of knowledge, and the faithful
memory shown in them, being filled with extracts from old
records pertaining to the history of Portland, and ancient




480             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Falmouth, depositions relating to original settlers, historical
notes and abstracts, land titles and grants, plans and deeds;
in fine, entries concerning matters which he judged might
come of use in historical, political, ecclesiastical or social
discussions.
With all his diligence, Mr. Willis could not have
accomplished half his amount of important and valuable
work, outside of a laborious and exacting profession, had
he not, at an early period, formed habits of method and
system; and in this respect his diary and these volumes of
manuscript afford an important lesson for young men. It
requires patience, resolution, and the constant pressure of
a law of one's life, to make, for example, extracts from
books of eastern land claims, write notes and abstracts of
matters of no immediate value, to explore mouldy and
scarcely legible records, to decipher, as he did, and copy
"inscriptions on gravestones and monuments of the
"eastern cemetery." Few have the patient industry for
such drudgery. But with a remote, though uncertain end
in view, he went through all this toil, year after year, never
wearied of such painstaking, and the public have reason to
cherish his memory for his untiring fidelity to a laudable
purpose. His care and system appear also from the fact
that his correspondence, which was so extensive, while, for
example, his Law and Lawyers of Maine, or his Genealogy
of the McKinstry Family was in hand, is bound in one or
more volumes.
Of the more considerable communications made by Mr.
Willis to our periodical historical literature, may be mentioned: A Bibliography of the State of Maine in Norton's
Literary Letter, No. 4, 1859; a similar one published after
his death, on the writers, native and resident, of Maine, Historical Magazine, March, 1870; A Summary of Voyages to
the North Atlantic Coast of this Continent in the Sixteenth
Century, New England Historical and Genealogical Register, April, 1869; also for the same, an Essay on the Early




ION. WILLIAXM WILLIS.           481
Collections of Voyages to America; A Sketch of the Origin
and Progress of the Maine Historical Society, Historical
Mlagazine, January, 1868; for the New England Historical
and Genealogical Register, a paper on the Early Settlers of
New Hampshire, and also a notice of Folsom's Catalogue
of Original Documents in the English Archives, relating to
the Early History of Maine; an article on Titles Conferred
on Americans, Historical Magazine, January, 1866; and
two others, one, The Descent of Honorable Isaac Royall,
the other on Long Pastorates, with the case of the first
parish, Portland; A Genealogy of the McKinstry Family,
Historical and Genealogical Register, 1859-60, of which a
second edition, more full and complete, was printed in
1866.
For the Law Reporter he furnished reports of cases and
decisions in the supreme judicial court of Maine, and in
November, 1848, a paper on judicial changes in Maine.
Mr. Willis edited all the seven volumes of the Maine
Historical Collections, and all but one have one or more
valuable contributions from his industrious pen. Without
more particular reference to these articles, many of them
of great importance, we pass on to his more extended and
fruitful labors, which afford evidence of his extensive and
critical researches into the early history of Maine; his
republication of the Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Smith
and Deane, with copious notes, biographical sketches, and
an introduction, 1849; a new edition of his History of
Portland, the first part of the first edition having formed a
considerable portion of volume first, Maine Historical
Collections, 1831. This new edition was published 1865,
in one octavo volume, 928 pages, and is one of the best
town or city histories published in the country. In 1863,
appeared History of the Law, the Courts and Lawyers of
Maine, one octavo volume, 712 pages. His diary shows
somewhat of the painstaking and labor bestowed upon this
work, which, for its great amount of material, its historic
61




482             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
value, and the admirable judgment and taste in the
execution of it, is in the highest degree honorable to the
author and to the state. The first volume of the Maine
Historical Society Collections having become exhausted, a
new edition was issued, 1865, under his supervision,
enlarged by more than one hundred pages of valuable
material, especially connected with the first part of his
history of Portland, throwing light on obscure passages in
the early history of the coast of Maine, and affording
additional proof of his sagacious, patient and thorough
research.
The statements already made afford abundant evidence
that Mr. Willis possessed a generous and high toned public
spirit. His journal records, as has been said, the interest
he took in whatever promoted the welfare of his fellow
men; that he was ready to cooperate in any well considered
scheme of good, from the "charity fund" of the congregation to which he belonged, or "the Benevolent Society
"of Portland," or the "Association for Relief of Aged,
"Indigent Women," or the "Widow's Wood Society," to
the organizations formed to embrace in their charities the
whole land. He was a model parishioner, in whom his
pastor found a steadfast, discreet, judicious and generous
friend. No charge or suspicion of a lack of the highest
honor and purest integrity was ever attached to his name.
As a citizen he was loyal to his heart's core. He was
eminently a domestic man, and his love for home and
kindred knew no bounds. He was also a social man; his
home, one of liberal and courteous hospitality, and when
he died the most cultivated circles of his city must have
felt that a great vacuum had been made in their social life,
and that they had suffered an irreparable loss.
It is an interesting feature of his private record, which
has been already referred to, that he seldom fails to notice
in the Sabbath entry the religious services of the day, the
sermons he had heard, the texts preached from, and often




HON. WILLIAM WILLIS.           483
accompanied with outlines of discourse, occasionally a
brief comment. So also of works which he read, touching
on points of christian faith. He was for many years a
most valuable church member, and decidedly reverential
and conservative in his views and sympathies, always
shrinking from whatever savored of a departure from his
high standard of what the sermon and the preacher should
be. The diary has the following entry: "Attended a
"meeting of the Free Religionists, and free and loose
"enough it was. Many of the speakers freed themselves
"from all religion except the vagaries of their own minds,
" and certainly cut loose from christianity and the authority
"of the bible." He characterizes the discussion as "a
"course of negations of all the christianity of the past."
His reflections when he made note of his own birthday, or
the anniversary of his marriage, or the sickness and death
of a child or friend, his meditations when he came of
seventy, all show that he had an abiding sense of religion,
of responsibility, and a life to come. "With the last day,"
he writes, "of February, 1865, I have reached the close of
"the third volume of my journal which was commenced
"October, 1844. The many changes which twenty years
"have made, is startling when their aggregate force is con"templated. I have lost in that period my mother, my
"father, two brothers, a sister, and several children and
"grandchildren. At the age of seventy what can a man
"expect but to look back upon his path strewed with the
"wrecks of affections and friendships which he is too old to
"repair, and forward to privations, infirmities, and earthly
"desolations which cannot be repaired, and only compen"sated by the hopes of a future being, where the temporal
"and evanescent is changed into the permanent, ever
"during and ever blessed." And again, under date of
August 31, 1868: "I enter to-day upon my seventy-fifth
"year. I cannot realize that I have advanced so far on
"the journey of life, and am admonished to use the time




484             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"that remains for spiritual improvement and preparation
"for the end."
Such a man would not be allowed to live without tokens
of regard, confidence and respect from his fellow men.
For many years he filled offices involving responsibility
and influence in his city, as bank director, president or
chairman of different associations, mayor of the city; and
in the state, a director of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence
Railroad, and president of the board; railroad commissioner, member of the state senate; was urged to allow
himself to be put in nomination for governor of Maine, but
declined; was an elector for president of the United States
in 1860, and president of the electoral college.
His various and incessant historical labors attracted the
notice of the leading historical societies of the country, and
he was successively elected corresponding or honorary
member of the historical societies of Massachusetts, of
Pennsylvania, and of the Numismatic and Antiquarian
Society of Philadelphia, of the historical societies of
Georgia, New Hampshire, Vermont, Buffalo, Wisconsin,
Florida, Long Island, of the American Antiquarian Society,
and of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society.
Of the latter society, he was vice-president from 1855 to
1859. In 1867 he received from Bowdoin College the
honorary degree of doctor of laws. The city of Portland,
for whose welfare he ever manifested the liveliest interest,
will have a constant reminder of his earnest zeal in her
behalf by the "Institute and Public Library," of which he
was the principal originator, and became its largest patron
by his bequest of his library, manuscripts, scrap books and
alutograph documents.
Though for several years in feeble health, he did not
falter in what had been the pastime, as well as the work, of
his life. His pen did not rest until almost, literally, it fell
from his hand. On the Monday, as is stated by one
intimately conversant with him, previous to his death, he




HON. WILLIAM WILLIS.           485
laid aside the historical papers which he was editing, to
complete a biographical sketch of the youngest of a
venerable family, who had just died, aged ninety-six years.
The article appeared in the newspaper of the next day,
with the announcement: "My declining health and
"strength admonish me that I must write no more."  On
Tuesday, however, he resumed labor upon his historical
article; but at 4 P. M., pen in hand, he became unconscious
and lay in a swoon until 3 A. M. of Wednesday. A couch
had been brought to his library; upon it he reclined without distress until 9 A. A., Thursday, February 17, 1870,
when he gently expired.
Fitting notices of the event were taken by the city of
which Mr. Willis was a prominent and distinguished
citizen, by the Cumberland bar, and by other bodies of
which he had been an associate. That which is entered on
the records of the Maine Historical Society is here
annexed.
"The members of the Maine Historical Society, in their
"deep sense of the loss sustained by the society in the
"decease of the late Honorable William Willis, LL. D., an
"active member almost from its beginning, and for several
"years its honored president, and feeling it to be due to
"his memory, and just to themselves, to place on record
"some fitting notice of this mournful event, therefore
" resolve:
"That they cherish a grateful remembrance of his long,
"active and most valuable service in the interests of the
"society, by his important contributions to its memoirs, his
"careful, discriminating, exact, and able superintendence
"of the first seven volumes of its collections, by his wise
"counsel and efficient cooperation, throughout, in further"ance of its objects, and by the reputation which his
"learned labors have given to the society;
"That we deem it cause of grateful acknowledgement to
"the Author of all good, that the society and the state




486             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
" have, through so long a series of years, been favored by
"his earnest and indefatigable spirit of inquiry into the
"sources of our history, and by proofs of his diligence,
"skill and success in developing and recording, greatly for
"the common good, the results of his varied studies
"regarding the general history and bibliography of the
"state, the lives of prominent citizens and professional
"men, and especially the history of his own town and city,
"so full of details of interest and importance, manifold
"labors continued almost to the day of his death;
"That, by such an eminent example of patient con"tinuance in an important work, we are encouraged to
"renew our diligence in promoting, each in his measure,
"the valuable objects and pursuits to which our honored
"friend devoted, so generously, his time and labor."




NOTICE OF
CYRUS EATON, ESQ.
BY REV. DAVID Q. CUSHMAN,
OF BATH.
--- 1875.
ANOTHER of our distinguished citizens, Cyrus Eaton, Esq.,
has just departed this life. He was born in Framingham,
Massachusetts, February 11, 1784, and died in Warren,
MIaine, January 21, 1875, aged ninety years, eleven months,
and ten days. He was the sixth child and second son of
Benjamin and Mary (Stacy) Eaton, who were. the parents
of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, all of
whom passed away before the subject of this memoir.
His father, who was a shoemaker by trade, and a
soldier in the war of the revolution, left his last and his
bench and leaped to arms when the bugle first sounded at
the battle of Lexington. When Cyrus was sixteen years of
age, his father died; but his mother, a woman of distinguished piety and worth, lived to the advanced age of
ninety-five years and six months. In the latter part of her
life she lived with her son David, a man of more than
ordinary ability and prominence in Portland, Chautauque
County, New York, and died October 14, 1848. David, the
eldest son, died in Portland, the place of his residence, in
1873.




488             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
The Eatons were of English descent, and have proved a
valuable acquisition to the land of their choice. And
Cyrus Eaton, the subject of this memoir, passed the period
of his youth in the vicinity of where he was born. At the
death of his father, a large family was left in poverty, in
consequence of the war, and the depreciation of continental
currency. But he and his elder brother entered upon the
trade of their father. Their love of learning, however, was
so strong'that a book would be laid by the lapstone, and
its contents perused as the awl was applied to the shoe.
Says Mr. Sibley:* "Their love of learning was so strong
"that they hired books of history and travels, which the
"younger brother was permitted to read aloud to the elder,
"who, as the best and fastest workman, was turning out
"the boots and shoes" during "the long winter evenings.
" Both of them soon acquired about all that could be
"learned in the district schools, and the younger, who
"preferred hiring out on a farm during the warm season,
"was once allowed a few weeks between summer and
"winter, having committed to memory the Latin grammar,
"to study Latin at the academy, carrying his dinner and
"travelling three miles morning and evening."
Mr. Eaton never had the advantage of the college; he
only in his youth enjoyed the benefit of the town school
and a single term at the academy. His widowed mother,
who, after her husband's death, removed from Framingham
to Southborough, not being able to afford both her sons the
privilege of the academy, decided that one should attend
and teach the other at night what he had acquired during
the day; and Cyrus being the younger of the two, his
services at the bench were deemed the least valuable of
the two, and he was the one who was selected to attend.
"The next summer he was employed on a farm for six
"months, at eight dollars per month. After his time was
* Massachusetts Historical Society.




CYRUS EATON, ESQ.             489
"completed, his employer wished him to work one month
"longer," for which he received ten dollars, "and his
"mother told him he might devote this month's wages to
"the purchase of books." * His hopes were ardent, his
mind was interested, his purpose was fixed, his labors
seemed light; and at the end of that time, with a lunch in
his pocket and money in his purse, he started, and with
quickened step travelled to Worcester, a distance of twenty
miles, entered a bookstore, purchased Pike's large arithmetic, an algebra, the first he ever saw, and other
mathematical books and instruments, and returned home
on foot the same day, having travelled, in going and
returning, the distance of forty miles. These books he
studied and mastered without the assistance of any teacher.
In addition to these he made himself familiar with Love's
surveying, with an industry and determination to reach the
bottom of every subject with which his mind so earnestly
grappled.
"The next season he worked at brick-making on the
"banks of the river Charles, in Watertown, for nine dollars
"a month, where, though the work was hard," commencing
early in the morning and ending only at sundown, "his
"fancy, he said, was struck with the pleasant river, its daily
"tide and frequent lighters, the city-like appearance of the
"street leading across the bridge, a distant view of the
"cupola of the state house at Boston, and the solemn sound
of the far off bells that were wafted to his unaccustomed
"ears-upon the stillness of a Sabbath morning. With the
"Fables of Florian, and one or two other books found at
"his boarding house, and an occasional solitary stroll
" among the majestic trees of some neighboring forest, made
"Sunday a truly refreshing feast to his soul, as well as rest
"to his body. Not, he said, that the service of the church
"was neglected, but that the apparent display of wealth and
* Rockland Gazette, January 28, 1875.
62




490             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
"fashion did not, at that time of his life, well chime in with
"his melancholy moods and feelings. Towards fall, as the
"days began to grow shorter, he found an hour or two of
"evening leisure, which, instead of gossiping with his
"fellow boarders, he spent in reading by the light of some
"tallow candles he purchased, a history of England which
"he had the good fortune to come across, so dilapidated
"that he never learned the author's name, but so interest"ing, particularly in relation to the early Britons and
"Druid priests, as to detain him long into the night.
" The following winter, boarding with his mother's family
"at Southborough, he began there, at the age of nineteen,
"his career as a schoolmaster, by teaching a large and
"difficult *school in the centre of the town, with such
"success, that, before the next annual town meeting was
"adjourned, he was applied to for the next winter by two
"of the newly elected agents." *
The next summer, in 1804, he took passage in a down
east coaster, and was landed at Owl's Head, and thence
came to Warren, where he spent a portion of the season in
teaching. Thence he returned to Massachusetts "with the
"means to purchase more books, and while laboring
"through the summer, found time to study them with such
"diligence, that in the fall he was able to calculate an
" eclipse." f
In the autumn of 1805, when twenty-one years of age, he
came the second time to Warren, where he established
himself, and spent the remainder of his days. His residence was a two-story house about one mile from Warren
village, on the way to Thomaston, on a gentle and beautiful
elevation of land, familiarly known by the name of Cornhill.
He was the owner of a small farm, divided into gardening,
orcharding, tillage and mowing, pasture and woodland. On
* Massachusetts Historical Proceedings, 1873-1875.
t Rockland Gazette.




CYRUS EATON, ESQ.             491
this he spent a considerable portion of his time, and found
pleasure and profit therein, particularly in the latter part
of his life.
On the tenth of December, 1806, he married Miss Mary
Lermond of Warren, by whom he became the father of four
children; one son, Oscar, and three daughters, Eliza Ann,
who died September 25, 1835, Angelina, who was sick at
the time of her father's funeral, and who died January 27,
1875, just six days after her father's decease, and Emily,
her father's amanuensis and valuable assistant in his
literary works through all the years of his blindness, who
is still living.
Mrs. Eaton, the wife, died February 19, 1853, and Oscar,
the only son, a man of business ability, and entrusted with
important civil offices by his fellow citizens, died July 27,
1864, so that only one member, Emily, of the immediate
family, survives the subject of this memoir.
Oscar, who married Miss Mary W. Standish, February
18, 1841, (who is now living,) became the father of twelve
children, four of whom died in infancy, eight lived to grow
up, and six are now living. One son, George Oscar,
graduated at West Point, in June, 1873, and is now a
lieutenant of a regiment of cavalry, in the territory of
Arizona. He was born May 14, 1848, and is a young man
of promise and more than ordinary ability.
This, gives a brief description of Mr. Eaton's family
relations. One child and six grandchildren survive him.
The circumstances of his death are as follows: For
some time he had not felt as well as usual; but on the morning of the fifteenth he told his daughters he felt much better,
and was going out to engage in his usual exercise, sawing
wood. He did so, but had a fall, though it is not known
as he was injured thereby. He returned into the house
but soon began to fail. Dr. Buxton, when called, could
detect no particular disease, but it seemed to be the general
breaking up of the powers of nature, and on the twenty-first




492            BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
he peacefully breathed his last. His funeral services took
place January 24, 1875, amidst a large concourse of sympathizing friends and citizens, his daughter Emily being chief
mourner, but unable, through infirmity, to go to the grave;
and then his remains were interred in the cemetery near
his house, there to lie till the trump of the archangel shall
awaken the sleeping dead to endless life and action. The
forty-sixth psalm, first verse, afforded a subject for thought
and remark, on the funeral occasion; "God is our Refuge
"and Strength; a very present Help in trouble."
Mr. Eaton, all through his long life, was distinguished
for his pure morality and correctness of deportment. He
was a man of decided convictions,-took not his opinions
on trust from any man, but thought for himself, and came
to his own independent conclusions,-always meant to be
on the side of right,-from the first was an ardent supporter
of the cause of abolition, and was a warm friend of the
cause of temperance, always voting as he believed, and was
a constant attendant upon the worship of the sanctuary
on the sabbath. Though what we now call a Unitarian in
his theological views and sympathies, and for a short time
a member of the Unitarian church at Thomaston, under the
ministry of the Rev. Mr. Fernald, yet his place of worship
was at the Congregational church in Warren, about one
mile from his own house. He enjoyed the ministry of
Rev. Mr. Cutter, and other clergymen who have preached
there; and during a period of seven years, while I was
pastor of that church, though I preached the gospel as I
understood that gospel, seeking to please God rather than
men, yet I could always reckon Mr. Eaton as one of my
most intelligent and appreciative hearers. In 1845, he
lost his eyesight; but after he had become totally blind,
at the ringing of the second bell, of a Sabbath morning, he
would be seen wending his way to the house of God, led
by the hand of one of his little grandsons, and being
seated in his pew, would continue a devout listener of what




CYRUS EATON, ESQ.             493
was said till the close of the service, both forenoon and
afternoon. And then he would return home, led by
another, as he came in the morning.
It will be seen in what estimation he was held by his
fellow citizens, when it is known that he was town clerk
from the year 1817 to 1829, was one of the assessorsin
1815 and 1816, and again from 1822 to 1829, a representative to the general court of Massachusetts during the
years 1811, 1812 and 1815, was four times, November 10,
1816, February 5, 1825, February 3, 1832, and February 5,
1841, appointed a justice of the peace and quorum, and in
1819, was a member of the convention that framed the
constitution of Maine, as a separate and independent state.
He was a prime scholar in the various departments of
education, and had acquired the happy and useful faculty
of knowing how to communicate his knowledge to others;
and thus he became a most successful and accomplished
educator of youth. His career in this regard began in
Massachusetts, where he had wonderful success in managing refractory scholars, and promoting the highest
interests of the school; and after he came to Maine he
taught in the different districts in town, till the name of
"Master Eaton" was as common as that of the parson.
This continued till 1830, when he was appointed preceptor
of the academy in Warren. In this place he remained
from December of that year, to April, 1843; and though he
was not a man of "liberal education," as the by-laws
required, or college education as the term was understood
to mean, yet so intent were they on obtaining his services
as preceptor, that the trustees wisely determined, in his
case, at least, that the term "liberal" related to qualifications, rather than the manner in which those qualifications
were obtained. And thus he was employed.
And though he had not the advantage of a college
education, yet he became an adept in mathematics, in
surveying, in Greek and Latin, in French and German, so




494             BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
that he could teach those languages and branches, and fit
young men for college with as much readiness and success,
as those whose advantages had been vastly superior to his
own.
But the work on which his fame will chiefly rest, and
which was commenced and executed after he became
sightless, was his "Annals of Warren." While bending a
fir sapling with one hand, with the attempt to cut it off
with the other, a chip flew in one eye, which badly affected
it,-sympathy communicated the difficulty to the other;
the disease grew  constantly worse,-no physician or
remedy could be found in Boston or Maine to afford relief,
sight gradually faded away, and total blindness was the
result.
Soon after this, however, having been a practical
surveyor, and having become familiarly acquainted with the
local and historical records of the place, he commenced his
book, and the result was the giving to the world in 1851,
his history entitled "Annals of Warren." For correctness,
appropriateness of topics, and thoroughness, this work has
but few equals, if any superiors. His " History of Thom"aston, Rockland and South Thomaston," was compiled at
a later period of life, under great disadvantages; and
though it is a valuable history, yet it can hardly be
compared with the " Annals of Warren." He spent a large
portion of his life on these two works; and while he saw
the two editions soon exhausted by sale, he received tokens
of the estimation in which he was held by his fellow men,
by being presented, in 1848, with a degree of master of
arts by Bowdoin College, and in 1859 he became a member
of the Maine Historical Society. He was also a corresponding member of the Wisconsin Historical Society, and
of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
However, great credit is due to his invalid daughter, who
was with him, and unsparingly assisted him in all his
published works. Though unable to cross the room




CYRUS EATON, ESQ.              495
without assistance, and her hands and limbs rendered
almost useless by rheumatic complaints, yet her clear head
and active brain remained untouched by the torturing
disease, and there was just enough activity in the right
hand, and only enough, to wield the pen; and with her
intelligent and open eyes, that were closed in the father,
she enabled him to accomplish a work, which, but for her,
could never have seen the light. This, and the other
daughter, who could continue in the domestic employments
of the house, and who, in a few days, followed her father
across the dark river, accomplished a noble work for their
father in his declining years. And the son's family, who
lived in another part of the house with him, afforded
valuable assistance, both when at home, and when he would
go abroad as leaders in the way. They have the reward
of honoring the parent, which "is the first commandment
with promise."
Mr. Eaton, in a pamphlet entitled "Women; an Address
"Delivered to the Ladies' Sewing Circle, Warren, Maine,
" at their Anniversary Meeting, February 9, 1854," showed
that he possessed the powers of the true poet. His was an
active life, and it leaves its fruit. But he is gone, and we
too are going, and in his own words in this poem, we lay
down our pen concerning him:
"How to the grave have youth and age gone down!
Peace to their ashes! they have found their rest;
Blest be their memories, and their spirits blest!
We soon may follow; let our hands pursue
With readier zeal whate'er they find to do!
Thus, when their spirits earthward bend their way,
As love and reason intimate they may,
They shall not find occasion for regret,
But every house in ample order set;
Then, mounting upwards on rejoicing wings,
Bear the glad tidings to the King of Kings."








CATALOGUE
OF THE
PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS,
RESIDENT AND CORRESPONDING,
OF THE
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
BRUNSWICK:
JOSEPH GRIFFIN.
1874.








The Standing Committee of the Maine Historical Society deeming it
desirable that a complete list of the past and present membership of the
Society should be prepared and printed, the subscribers were appointed for
that object. In discharge of that duty they have done what they could, by
correspondence and otherwise, to ascertain dates of admission as well as of
birth and decease, and place of residence of all whose names appear on the
records, and present the following result.
Any one who can supply dates omitted, or correct errors, is requested to
furnish the information to the committee.
The names of the original corporators are given in alphabetical order
and there-afterwards the names of their associates under the years in which
they were respectively admitted.
The list of corresponding members follows, and an alphabetical index
of the resident members completes the work.
WM. G. BARROWS,
A. S. PACKARD.
Brunswick, June, 1874.
* indicates decease
t indicates removal from State.








RESIDENT MEMBERS
OF THE
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ORIGINAL      MEMBERS.
Residence.  Profes-   Birthplace.   Birthday.     Death.    Age
osion or
Occupat'n
*Abbott, William     Castine,      Law.   Wilton, N. H.  Nov. 15, 1773 Aug.25, 1849  76
Bangor
*Allen, William      Brunswick     Div.   Pittsfield, Ms.  Jan. 2, 1784  July 16, 1868  84
*Ames, Benjamin      Bath          Law.   Andover, Ms.  Oct. 30, 1778 Sept. 28,1835  57
*Balch, Horatio G.   Lubec         Med.   Danvers, Ms.         1777   Oct. 19, 1849  72
*Bradbury, George    Portland      Law.   Portland, Me.        1770   Nov. 17,1823  53
*Bridge, James       Augusta       Law.   Dresden, Me.  Sept. 21,1765       1834   69
*Bond, Thomas        Hallowell     Law.   Groton, Mass.  Apr. 2, 1778  Mar. 28.1827  49
*Cogswell, Jonathan Saco           Div.                 Sept. 3, 1782  Aug. 1, 1864  82
*Cony, Daniel        Augusta      Med.    Sharon, Ms.   Aug. 3, 1752  Jan. 21, 1842  90
*Dana, Judah         Fryeburg      Law.   Pomfret, Vt.   Apr. 25, 1772  Dec. 27, 1845  73
*Dane, Joseph        Kennebunk     Law.   Beverly, Ms.  Oct. 25 1778  May 1, 1858  79
*Gardiner, R. H.     Gardiner      Gent. Bristol, Eng.  Feb. 10,1782  Mar. 22,1864  82
*Gillett, Eliphalet  Hallowell    Div.    Colchester, Ct. Nov. 19,1768  Oct. 19, 1848  80
*Hasey, Benjamin     Topsham       Law.   Lebanon, Me.  July 5, 1771  Mar. 24,1851  79
*Hayes, Wm. A.       S. Berwick   Law.    N.Yarm'th,Me. Oct. 20,1783  Apr. 15, 1851  68
*Holmes, John        Alfred       Law.    Kingston, Ms.  Mar.  1773   July, 7, 1843  70
*Jarvis, Leonard     Surry         Law.   Boston, Ms.           1782         1854  72




6                               CATALOGUE OF THE
Reidelnce.  Profs- I Birthl'lee..  Birthday.    Death     Age
Occuljt t'a
*Kingsbery, Sanford Glrdiner       Law.   (:laremont.N.n. July, 31,1782  Mar. 1, 1819  66
*Kingo, William      Bath          Mlrch. Scarboro', Me. Feb. 9,1768   June 17, 1852 8
*Lincoln, Enoch      Paris         Law.    Worcester, Ms. Dec. 28,1788  Oct. 8, 1829  41
*Lincoln, Isaac       Brunswick    Med.    Cohasset. Ms.  Jan. 26, 1783  Mar. 6, 1868  88
*Longfellow, Steph. Portland       Law.    Gorham, Me.   Mar. 23,1776  Au. 3, 1849   73
*Mann, Ariel         Hallowell     Med.    Wrentham.Ms. May 14,1777    Mar. 16. 1828 51
*McGaw, Jacob         Bangor       Law     Merrimac, N.H. Sept. 8, 1778  May 12,1867  89
*Mellen, Prentiss    Portland      La.o.   Sterling, Ms  Oct. 11, 1764  Dec 31, 1840  76
*Merrick, John       Hallowell     Gent.  London, Eng.   Aug. 27, 1766  Oct. 22, 1851  95
*Nichols, Ichabod    Portland      Div.   Portsm'th, N.H. July 5, 178  Jan. 2, 1859  74
*Orr, Benjamin        Brunswick    Law.    Bedford, N.H.  Dec. 1, 1772  Sept. 5, 1828  56
*Packard, Hezekiah Wiscasset       Div.    Bridgewat'r,Mis. Dec. 6,1761  Apr. 25,1819  87
*Parker, James       Gardiner      Med.    Boston, Ms.   Jan.    1768  Nov. 9, 1837  69
*Parris, Albion K.   Portland      Law.    Hebron, Me.   Jan. 19, 1788  Feb. 11, 1857  69
*Payson, Edward      Portland      Div.    Rindge, N H.  July, 25, 1783 Oct. 22, 1827  44
*Preble, Wm. P.      Portland      Law.    York, Me.     Nov. 27,1783  Oct. 11, 1857  74
*Rose, Daniel        Thomaston     Med.   N. Haven, Ct.          1771  Oct. 25, 1833  62
*Russell, Edward     N. Yarmouth   Merch. Yarmouth, Me. Aug. 31, 1783 Nov. 29, 1835  52
*Seaver, Josiah W.   S. Berwick    Merch. Norwich, Vt.   Apr. 12, 1777  Sept. 29, 1847 70
*Sewall, David       York          Law.    York, Me.     Oct. 7, 1735  Oct. 22, 1825  90
Shepley, Ether       Saco, lortland Law.   Groton, Ms.   Nov. 2, 1789
*Smith, S. E.         Wiscasset    Law,    Hollis, N. H.  Mar. 12,1788  Mar. 3,1860  72
tSprague, Peleg       Hallowell    Law.    Duxbury, Ms   Apr. 28, 1793
*Tappan, Benj.        Augusta      Div.   Newbury, Ms.   Nov. 7, 1788  Dec. 23,1863  75
*Vaughan, Benj.       Hallowell    Med.    Jamaica, W. I. Apr. 30, 1751  Dec. 8, 1835  85
*Ware, Ashur         Portland      I aw.   Sherburne, Ms. Feb. 10,1782  Sept. 9, 1873  91
*Warren, Eben. T.     Hallowell    Law.                                Aug.    1829
*Weston,Nathan, jr. AugAugus               Augusta, Me.  July 27, 1782  June 4, 1872  90
*Williams, Reuel     Augusta       Law.    Augusta, Me.  June 2, 1783  July 25, 1862  79
*Williamson, W. D. Bangor          Law.    Canterbury, Ct. July 31, 1779  May 27, 1846  66
*Wilson, John        Belfast       Law.    Peterboro',N.H.       1777  Aug. 9, 1848  71
*Wingate, Joshua      Portland     Merch. Haverhill, Ms.               Nov. 6, 1843




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                                    7
Associate Resident Members in the order of their election.
Residence.  Profnf-   Birthplace   Birthday.    Ieath.      Age
sions or'
1822 2Occupat'n
*Abbott, John         Brunswick    Prof.B.C. Andover, Ms.        1759          1843  84
*Allen, Frederick   (CGardiner     Law.    Chilmrk, Ms.  Dec. 22,1780  Sept. 28,1865  85
*Bailey, Jeremiah     Wiscasset    Law.    L.Compton, t.I. May 1,1773  July, 6, 1853  80
*Chapin, Stephen     Waterville    Div.    Milford, Ms.  Nov. 4, 1778  Oct. 1, 1845  67
*Chaplin, Jeremiah    Waterville   Div.    Rowley, Ms.   Jan. 2,1760   May 7,1841    81
*Chessman, David      Hallowell    Div.
*Cleaveland, Parker Brunswick     Pof.B.C. Byfield, Ms.  Jan. 15, 1780  Oct. 15, 1858  78
*Cobb, David        G(ouldsboro    Med.   Attleboro' Ms. Sept. 14,1748  Apr. 17,1830  82
*Everett, Ebenezer   Brunswick     Law.    Beverly, Ms.  Aug 16, 1788  Feb. 6, 1869  80
*Frothingham, Wm. Belfast          Div.    Cambridge,Ms. Mar. 14, 1775 June 24, 1852 77
*Greeley, Allen      Turner        Div.   N.Yarm'th,Me May 15, 1781    Oct. 25, 1866  85
*Greene, Benj.       S. Berwick    Law.    Waltham,Ms.   May 5, 1764   Oct. 15, 1837  73
*Greenleaf, Jon'than Wells         Div.   Newuryl't, Ms. Sept. 4, 1785         1865  80
*Greenleaf, Moses    Williamsburg  Surv'yl Newburyp't, Ms.       1778          1834  56
*Johnson, Alfred, jr. Belfast      Law.   Newburyp't,Ms. Aug. 13, 1789  Mar. 22,1852  63
*Lincoln, Theodore   Dennysville     ent.  Hingham, Ms.  Dec. 30, 1763  June 15, 1852  88
*Loomis, Harvey       Bangor       Div.   Torringfd, Ct.         1785  Jan.    1825  40
*McKeen, Joseph      Brunswick     Merch. Beverly, Ms.   Mar. 12, 1787 Dec. 2, 1865  78
*Newman, Sam'l P. Brunswick       Prof.B.C.Andover, Ms.  Jan. 6,1797   Feb.10,1842   45
*Nourse, Peter       Ellsworth     Div.   Boston, Ms.    Oct. 10, 1774  Mar. 25, 1840 66
*Sewall, Joseph      Bath          Law.   Bath, Me.      Apr. 21,1795  Mar. 26, 1851  56
*Stebbens, Josiah    Alna          Law.   Brimfield Ms. Nov. 19, 1766 Mar. 1, 1829   63
*Tappan, Enoch S. Augusta          Med.   Newbury, Ms.           1781  July 26, 1847  66
*Thatcher, George    Biddeford     Law.   Yarmouth, Ms. Apr. 12,1754   Apr. 6, 1824  70
1824
*Johnson, Samuel     Alna          Div.   Winthrop,Me. May 19, 1792    Nov. 16, 1836 44
1828
*Boutelle, Timothy   Waterville    Law.   Leominster,Ms. Nov. 10, 1777 Nov. 12, 1855 77
Bradley, Sam'l A.    Fryeburg      Law.   Concord, N.H. Nov. 22, 1774 Sept. 24,1844  70
*Brown,Theodore S. Vassalboro      Law.   Vassalboro,Me. June, 20, 1803       1862  59
*Bronson, David      Anson         Law.   Suffield, Ct.  Feb. 8,1800   Nov. 20,1863  63
*Clark, William      Hallowell     Law.   Hallowell, Me  Oct. 12, 1788  May18, 1855  67




t38y         ~         CATALOGUE OF THE
Re.idcncc.  Profse     Birthplace.   Birthday       Death.   A e
sionl or
Occupat'n
*Cummings, Asa        Portland     Div.    Andover, Ms.  Sept. 29, 1790  June 30, 1856 66
*Cutler, Nathan      Farmington    Law.    Warren, Ms.   May, 29, 1775  June 8, 1861  86
*l)aveis, Chas. S.   Portland      Law.    Portland, Me.  May 10, 1788  Mar. 30,1865  77
*Deane, John G.      Ellsworth      Law.   Raynham, Ms. Mar. 27,1785   Nov. 10, 1839 54
*Dunlap, Robert P. Brunswick       Law     Brunswi'k, Me.        1794  Oct. 20, 1859  65
*Emerson, Samuel     Kennebunk     Med.    Hollis, N.H.  Sept. 6, 1765  Aug. 7, 1851  86
*Evans, George       Gardiner      Law.    Hallowell, Me. Jan. 12, 1797  Apr. 6, 1867  70
*Everett, Stevens     Hallowell    Div.    Dorchester,Ms. Dec. 14, 1797  Feb. 20,1833  35
*Fessenden, Samuel! Portland       Law.    Fryeburg, Me, July 16, 1784  Mar. 19,1869 85
*Fuller, Henry W.     Augusta      Law.    Middletown, Ct.Jan. 1,1784  Jan. 29, 1841  57
Hathaway,Josh.W. Ellsworth         Law.    Conway,N. H. Nov. 10, 1797  June 6,1862   65
*How, Nathaniel      Waterford     Law.   Hillsboro',N.H. Apr. 2,1775  Jan. 19, 1829  54
*Ilsley, Isaac       Portland      Merch. Falmouth, Me. Mar. 11, 1765  Oct. 17, 1853  88
*McIntire, Rufus     Parsonsfield   Law.   York, Me.     Dec. 19, 1784 Apr. 28, 1866  81
*MIcKeen, James      Topsham       Med.    Beverly, Ms.  Nov. 27,1797  Nov. 28,1873  76
*McKeen, John         Brunswick    Gent.   Beverly, Ms.  Dec. 21, 1789  Dec. 2,1861  72
*McLellan, Judah     Bloomfield     Law.   Thompson, Ct.         1779
*Mellen, Grenville   N. Yarmouth   Gent.   Biddeford, Me. June 19,1799  Sept. 5, 1841  42
*Nason, Reuben      (Gorham        Teach. Dover, N. H.                         1835
Packard, Alpheus. Brunswick   Prof.B.C. Chelmsford,Ms. Dec. 23,1798
*Packard, Charles    Brunswick     Div.    (helmsford,Ms. Apr. 12,1801  Feb. 17,1864  63
*Payne, Lemuel       Winslow       Law.
*Pomeroy, Swan L. Bangor           Div.                  Mar. 4, 1797  Mar. 17, 1869  72
*Prestoin, Warren    Norridgewock Law.
*Redington, Asa jr. Waterville     Law.    Waterville,Me. July 4, 1789  June 5, 1874  85
*Robinson, Sylv.W. Hallowell       Law.    Litchfield, Me. Sept. 29,1801       1849  48
*Selden, Calvin      Norridgewock Law.     W.Hartford,Ct. Feb. 23,1779  Nov. 28, 1859  80
*Shepard, George     Hallowell     Div.    Plainfield, Ct.  Aug. 26, 1801 Mar. 23, 1868 66
*Sheppard, John HI. Wiscasset      Law.    Cirencester.Eig. Mar. 17,1789  June, 25, 1873 84
*Thayer, Solomon     Lubec          Law.   Bridgewater,Ms. Sept. 4, 1789  Dec. 22, 1857  68
*Tyler, Bennett      Portland       Div.   Middlebury, Ct. July, 10, 1783  May 14, 1858  75
*Upham, Thos. C.      Brunswick    Prof.B.C. Deerfield, N.H. Jan. 30, 1799  Apr. 2, 1872  73




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                                  9
Residence.   Prores-  Birthplace.  Birthday.      Death.   Age
sion or
Occupat'n
*Warren, Henry       Palmyra      Law.
*Wells, Geo. W.      Kennebunk    Div.   Boston, Ms.   Oct.   1804   Mar. 17, 1843 38
*Weston, Jona. D.    Eastport     Law.                                      1834
*Whitman, Levi       Norway       Law.   Wellfleet, Ms. Jan. 16, 1789  Oct. 2,1872  83
*Willis, William     Portland     Law.   Haverhill, Ms. Aug. 31, 1794  Feb. 17, 1870  76
1830
*Black, John         Ellsworth    Gent. London, Eng.   July 31, 1781  Oct. 25, 1856  75
*Chamberlain, M.     Castine      Law. Peacham, Vt.    June 17, 1796 May 14,1839 43
*Fisher, Jonathan    Bluehill     Div.   N.Braintree,M3. Oct. 7, 1768  Sept. 22,1847  79
*Greenleaf, Simon    Portland     Law.   Newburyp't,Ms. Dec. 5, 1783  Oct. 6,1853  70
*Hurd, Carlton       Fryeburg     Div.   Newport,N.H. Dec. 26, 1795  Dec. 6, 1855  60
*Kellogg, Elijah     Portland     Div.   S.Hadley, Ms.  Aug. 17, 1761  Mar. 9, 1842  80
*Pond, Samuel M.     Bucksport    Law.
*Porter, Rufus K.    Machias      Law. Biddefd, Me.    Sept. 6,1794  Dec. 11, 1856  62
*Sewall, Wm. B.      Portland,    Law.   York, Me.     Dec. 18, 1782  Mar. 4, 1869  86
Kennebunk
*Smith, John         Bangor       Div.                                      1831
*Smyth, Wm.          Brunswick   Prof.B C. Pittston, Me  Feb. 2, 1797  Apr. 5, 1868  71
*Tilton, Nathan      Scarboro     Div.   Kingst'n,Nl.H. July 2, 1772  Oct. 4, 1851  79
*Whitman, Ezekiel Portland        Law.   Bridgewat'r,Ms. Mar. 9, 1776  Aug. 1,1866  90
1831
*Cutter, William     Portland     Gent.  Yarmouth, Me May 15, 1801 Feb. 8,1867    66
*Folsom, George      Saco         Law. Kennebunk, Me. May 23, 1802   Mar. 27, 1869 67
*Kavanagh, Edw'd     New Castle   Gent. Newcastle,Me. Apr. 27, 1795  Jan. 21,1844  49
Kent, Edward         Bangor       Law.   Concord,N.H   Jan. 8, 1802
fLongfellow, H.W. Brunswick      Prof. B.C Portland, Me. Feb. 27, 1807
tPeck, Isaac         Gardiner     Div.
*Vaughan, John A. Hallowell       Div.   Brighton, Ms.  Oct. 13, 1795  May,  1865  70
Williams, Daniel     Augusta      Law.   Augusta, Me.  Nov. 12, 1795
1834
*Adams, Joseph       Portland     Law.   Sudbury, Ms.         1805   Aug. 23, 1850  45
*Adams, Solomon      Portland     Teach.                                    1870
*Beckwith, Geo. C. Portland       Div.                               May 12,1870  70
2




10                            CATALOGUE OF THE
Residence.  Prof/es-  Birthplace.  Birthday.;eath.    Age
sion or
Occupat'n
*Bourne, Edw'd E.   Kennebunk     Law.   Keniebunk, Me. Mar. 19, 1797 Sept. 23,1873  76
*Cole, Joseph G.    Paris         Jaw. Lincoln, Ms.    Mar. 16, 1801 Nov. 12,1851  50
Cummings, Nathan     Portland     Gent. Portland, Me.  Aug. 23, 1796
*Deblois, Thos. A.   Portland     Law.   Boston, Ms.   Dec. 2, 1794  Sept. 14,1867  72
*I)wight, Wm. T.    Portland      Div.   Greenfield, Ct  June 15, 1795 Oct. 22, 1865  70
*Emery, Nicholas     Portland     Law.   Exeter, N.H.  Sept. 4, 1776  Aug. 24, 1861  85
*Pierce, Geo. W.     Portland     Law.   Baldwin, Me.  Dec. 2,1805   Nov. 15,1835  3(
*Potter, Barrett     Portland     Law.   Lebanon, N H  May 8, 1777   Nov. 16,1865  88
*Preble, Edward D. Portland       Law.   Portland, Me.  Feb. 22, 1806      1845
tShepley, David      N. Yarmouth  Div.   Norridgew'k,Me June 1,1804
*Whitman, Jason     Saco          Div.   Bridgewater,sis. Apr. 30, 1799  Jan. 25, 1848  49
1836
tFarmer, Wm.         Dresden      Div
*Ladd, Wm.          Minot         Gent. Exeter, N. H.  May 10, 1778  Apr. 9, 1841  63
1839
Benson, Samuel P. Winthrop        Law.   Winthrop, Me. Nov. 28, 1804
*Curtis, Thomas      Bangor       Div.                                      1859
*Emmons, Wms.        Hallowell    Law.   Franklin, Ms.  May 2,1784   Oct. 8, 1855  71
t Hedge, Fred. H.    Bangor       Div.   Cambridge,Ms. Dec. 12, 1805
tPattison, Robt. E. Waterville    Div.
Woods, Leonard, jr. Brunswick    Pres.B. C. Newbury, Ms.  Nov. 24,1807
1846
tAbbot, John S.      Norridgewock Law.   Temple, Me.   Jan. 6,1807
tAllen, Elisha H.    Bangor       Law.   New Salem,Ms. Jan.28,1804
*Allen, Fred. H.     Bangor       Law.   New Salem,Ms. Feb. 3,1806   Apr.   1868  62
*Anderson, John      Portland     Law.   Windham, Me. July 29, 1792         1853  61
*Appleton, N. D.     Alfred       Law.   Ipswich, Ms.  May 20,1794   Nov.   1861 67
tBatchelder, J. M.   Saco         Gent. N. lpsw'h,N.H. Oct. 13, 1811
*Belcher, Hiram      Farmington   Law.   Augusta, Me.          1790  May 6, 1857  67
Bradbury, James W. Augusta        Law. Parsonsfield,Me. June 10, 1803
*Bradley, Samuel     Saco         Law.   Fryeburg, Me. Mar. 29,1802  June 26, 1849 47
tClement, Jonathan Topsham        Div.   Danville, Vt.  June 20, 1797




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                                   11
Reidence.  Profes-   Birthplce.    Birthday.     Death.
$ion or
Occuput'n
Crosby, Wm. G.       Belfast       Law.   Belfast, Me.   Sept. 10, 1805
*Dana, John W.       Fryeburg        ent. Fryeburg, Me.         1808 Dec. 22, 1867  59
D]eering, Nathaniel Portland       Iaw.   Portland, Me.  June 25, 1791
*Downes, George;     Calais        Law.   Walpole, Ms.   Aug 29, 1793 Oct. 4, 1869  76
*Eastman, Philip     Harrison,Saco Law.   Chatham, N.H. Feb. 5,1799    Aug. 6, 1869  70
*Ellingwood, J. W. Bath            Div.   Beverly, Ms.   May 2, 1782   Aug. 19, 1860  78
Emery, Moses         Saco          Law.   Poland, Me.    July 16, 1794'Emery, Stephen      Paris         Law.   Mlinot, Me.    Apr. 23, 1790  Nov. 18, 1863  73
tFales, Thomas F.    Brunswick     Div.
Farley, E. Wilder    Newcastle     Law. Newcastle, Me. Aug. 29, 1817
*Farrar, Samuel      Bangor        Merch.
*Fessenden, W. P. Portland         Law.   Boscawen,N.H   Oct. 6, 1806  Sept. 8, 1869  63
*Freeman, Charles    Limerick      Div.   Portland, Me.  June 3, 1794  Sept. 19, 1853 59
Gilman, John T.      Portland      Med.   Exeter, N. H.  May 9, 1806
*Goodenow, Daniel Alfred            La.    Henniker,N.H. Oct. 30,1793  Oct. 7, 1863  70
*Goodenow, Robt.     Farmington    Law.   Henniker, N.H.         1800  May 16,1874  74
*Goodenow, Wm.       Portland      Law.   Henniker,N.H. Sept. 16,1797  Sept. 9, 1863  66
*Granger, Daniel T. Eastport       Law.   Saco, Me.      July 18, 1807  Dec.27,1854  47
*Groton, Nathaniel Bath            Law.   Waldoboro'Me May 9, 1791     Oct. 25, 1858  67
*Hayes, David        Saccarappa    Law.   N.Yarm'th, Me July 11, 1795  Mar. 26.1870  75
tHodgdon, John       Houlton       Law., Weare, N. H.    Oct. 8, 1800
*Holmes, Ezekiel     Winthrop      Med.   Kingston, Ms.         1800   Feb. 9, 1865  64
Howard, Joseph       Portland      Law. Brownfield, Me Mar. 14, 1800
*Hyde, Zina          Bath          Merch. Lebanon,Conn. Oct. 14, 1787  Sept. 19, 1856  69
-Ilsley, Charles P.  Portland       Editor
tKellogg, Elijah, jr. Harpswell    Liv.   Portland, Me.  May 20,1813
*Leland, Joseph W. Saco            Law.   Saco, Me.      July 31, 1805  Sept. 7,1858  53
*Libby, Joseph       Portland       Teach. Buxton, Me.   Dec. 13, 1793  Aug. 27, 1871 78
*Little, Josiah S.   Portland      Law.   Minot Me.      July 9, 1801  Apr. 2,1862  60
tMoody, Isaiah P.    York          Law.   York, Me.      Dec. 3, 1804
Nourse, Amos         Bath          Med.   Bolton, Ms.    Dec. 17,1794
*O'Brien, John M.    Brunswick     Law.   Newbury, Ms.   Sept. 1786    Dec. 19,1865  79




12                               CATALOGUE OF THE
Residence.  Profe-    Birthplace.   Birthday.      Death.    Age
sion or
Occupat'n
*Otis, John           Hallowell    Law.    Leeds, Me.    Oct. 3, 1801
*Paine, William      Bangor        Law.    Portland, Me.  Nov. 28,1806         1861  55
tPalmer, Ray          Bath         Div.    L.Compton,R.a  Nov. 12,1808
*Pierce, Josiah      Gorham        Law.    Baldwin, Me.  Aug. 15, 1792  June 25,1866  74
Pond, Enoch          Bangor        Div.   Wrentham.Ms. July 29, 1791
*Poor, John A.       Bangor        Law.    Andover, Me.  Jan. 8,1808  Sept 5,1871    63
*Quinby, Moses       Westbrook      Law.  Falmouth, Me. Apr.     1786
*Randall, Benj.      Bath          Law.   Topsham, Me. Nov. 14, 1789   Oct. 14, 1857  68
Rowe, James S.        Bangor       Law.    Exeter, N. H.  Oct. 20, 1807
Ruggles, John        Thomaston     Law.    Westboro', Ms.        1790
tSabine, Lorenzo     Eastport
tSawtelie, Cullen    Norridgew'ck  Law.    Norridgew'k,Me Sept. 24,1805
*Severance, Luther Augusta         Editor Montague.Ms    Oct. 28. 1797  Jan. 25, 1855  57
*Soule, Charles      Norway        Div.   Freeport, Me.  Aug. 29, 1794  June,  1869  75
Storer, Seth         Scarboro'     Gent.  Saco, Me.      Feb.    1787
tSwallow, Geo. C.     Brunswick    Teach. Buckfield, Me. Nov. 17, 1817
*Tenney, John S.     Nolridgew'ck  Law.    Rowley, Ms.   Jan. 21, 1793  Aug. 23, 1869  76
tThacher, Peter       Machias      Law.    Kennebunk,te. Oct. 14, 1810
*Thurston, David      Winthrop     Div.    Georgetown,Ms Feb. 6,1779   May 7, 1865   86
*Thurston, Eli       Hallowell     Div.   Brighton, Ms.  June 14,1808  Dec. 19,1870  62
*Virgin, Peter C.    Rumford       Law.    Concord, N. H  July 25, 1782  Apr. 8,1872  90
*Vose, Richard H.    Augusta       Law.    Augusta, Me.  Nov. 8,1803   Jan. 19, 1864  60
*Walker, Joseph      Paris         Div.   Townsend, Ms. Feb. 19, 1792  Apr. 8, 1851  59
Wheeler, Amos D.     Topsham       Div.    Woodstock,Vt. Dec. 13, 1803
*Wood, Wilmot        Wiscasset     Law.   Wiscasset, Me. Feb. 16, 1796  May 2,1865   67
*Woodhull, Richard Thomaston       Div.   Fairfield, Ct.  Jan. 15, 1802  Nov. 12, 1873  71
*Woodman, J. C.      Minot         Law.   New Gloucester, Jan. 23,1804  Nov. 8, 1869  65
Me.
1847
tCole, Jonathan      Hallowell     Div.
*Fairfield, John     Saco          Law.   Saco, Me.      Jan. 30, 1797  Dec. 24, 1847  50
tShepley, Samuel H. N. Yarmouth    Div.    Walden, Vt.   Mar. 5, 1810




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                                  13
Residcnrc.  Proqfe-   Birthce. e    Birthday       Peath.   Age'ion or
1849                      0 cupat'n
Carruthers, John J. Portland      Div.    Dumfries, Scot.       1800
Champlin, J. T.      Waterville  rrs. w. C
tChickering, J. W. Portland        Div.
*Cony, Samuel        Bangor        Law.   Augusta, Me.   Feb. 27,1811  Oct. 5, 1870  60
tGardiner, Fred.     Bath          Div.   Gardiner, Me.  Sept. 11, 1822
Haines,. P.      Biddeford     Law.   Cant'rbury, N.H Feb. 22, 1811
*Ingalls, Theodore   Portland     Med.    Bridgton, Me.  Feb. 20,1790  June 9, 1857  67
Keeley, Geo. W.      Waterville   Prof. W.C N'thauipt'n,Eng Dec. 25, 1803
*Richardson, H. L. Bath           Law.    Bath, Me.     Nov. 21, 1819  Mar. 28,1866  46
Sheldon, David N.    Waterville  Pie. wC. Suffield, Ct.  June 26, 1807
*Simonton, Putnam Searsport        Med.                        1869
1850
Fox, Edward          Portland      Law.   Portland, Me. June, 1815
*Thacher, Stephen    Lubec         Gent.  Lebanon, Conn.        1773  Feb. 19, 1859  85
Williamson, Joseph   Belfast       Law.   Belfast, Me.  Oct. 5, 1828
1851
*Burgess, George     Gardiner      Div.   Providence, R.I. Oct. 31, 1809  Apr. 23, 1866  56
tGoodwin, Dan'l R. Brunswick      Prof.B.C. Berwick, Me.  Apr. 12,1811
tPaine, Henry W.     Hallowell     Law.   Winslow, Me. Aug. 30, 1810
Palfrey, Cazneau     Belfast       Div.   Boston, Ms.   Aug 11, 1805
*Robbins, A. C.      Brunswick     Law.   Union, Me.    June 3, 1816  Dec. 31, 1868  52
Shepley, Geo. F.     Portland     Law.    Saco, Me.     Jan. 1, 1819
tSouthgate, Wm. S. Portland        Div.   Portland, Me.  Apr. 10,1831
1854
tAbbot, John S. C. Brunswick       Author Brunswi'k, Me  Sept. 16,1805
tBoody, Henry H.     Brunswick    Prof B.C. Jackson, Me.  Nov. 10, 1816
tHitchcock, R. I).   Brunswick    Prof.B.C. E.Machias,Me. Aug. 15, 1817
Torsey, Henry P.     Readfield     Teach. Monmo'th,Me. Sept.    1819
1856
Morrill, Lot M.      Augusta       Law.   Belgrade, Me. May 3,1813
*Barnes, Phinehas    Portland      Law.   Orland, Me.   Jan. 21, 1811  Aug. 21, 1871  60
o~~~~~~~~~~~a.~2,l1 u.01 816




14                             CATALOGUE OF THE
Residence.  PI'of s-  Birthplace.  i  Birth iy.    Dt a th.  Al,
Si fill  11l
18 59                       ccu,,,t'n 
*Ballard, Edward     Brunswick     Div.   Hopkint'n,lN.H  Nov. 11,1804  lNov. 14, 1870  66
*Child, James L.    sAugusta       Law.    Augusta, Me.  May 31, 1792  Aug. 16. 1862  70
Cushman, David Q. Warren           Div.    Wiscasset, Me  Dec 2, 1807
Eaton, Cyrus        "Warren        Teach   Soutliboro',Ms  Feb. 11,1784
Fiske, John 0,        Bath         Div     Bangor, Me.   June 6, 1818
*Hamlin, Elijah L.   Bangor        Law,   Livermore,Me. Mar. 29, 1800 July 16,1872   72
fLocke, John L.      Camden
Rice, Richard D.     Augusta       Law.    Union, Me.    Apr. 11, 1810
Sewall, Rufus K.     Wiscasset     Law.    Edgecomb,Me. Jan. 22,1814
1861!
North, James W.      Augusta       Law.    Clinton, Me.  Feb. 12, 1810
Sewall, Fred. D.     Bath          Law.    Bath, Me.     Jan. 22, 1826 
tTrue, N. T.         Bethel        Teach. Pownal, Me.    Mar. 15,1812
1862
Barrows, Wm. G.       Brunswick    Law.    Yarmouth. Me. Jan. 12, 1821
*)ummer, Charles     Hallowell     Law.    Hallowell Me.         1793  June 28, 1872  79
tPerry, W. Stevens Portland        Div.
1864
Appleton, John       Bangor        Law.    N. lps\'h, N.H. June 12, 1804,
Blaine, James G.     Augusta       Editor W'shgt'n co.pa Jan. 31, 1830
Dike, Samuel F.      Bath          Div     Bridgewater,Ms. Mar. 17, 1815
Gilman, Charles J.   Brunswick     Gent.   Exeter, N. H.  Feb. 26, 1824
tMcKenzie, Alex.     Augusta       Div.    N. Bedford,Ms. Dec. 14, 1830
tSmith, Joseph E.     Wiscasset    Law.    Wiscasset, Me. Mar. 19,1835
*Smith, Wm. B.       Machias       Law.    Machias, Me.  June 3, 1806  Feb. 23, 1869. 63
*Swan, Joshua A.     Kennebunk     Div.    Lowell, Ms.   Jan. 18, 1822  Oct. 31, 1871  49
Washburn,Israel, jr. Orono         Law.    Livermore,Me. June 6, 1813
Waterman, John A. Gorham           Law.    Windham, Me. June 24, 1827
tWeston, Edw'd P. Gorham           Teach. Cumb'rland,Me Jan. 19, 1819
Williams, Joseph H. Augusta        Law.    Augusta, Me.  Feb. 15, 1814




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                                   15
Residence.   Pfs-    Birthptlce.    lirthday.      D Dealth.  Age.-.iolt l or
1865                       O.ccpat,',, 
Brown, John M.        Portland     Mer.h. Portland, Me    Dec. 14, 1838
Bryant, HubbardW.| Portlind        B'k.sell'r Boston, Ms.  Apr. 1,1839
Chamberlain, J. L.    Brunswick   t'-s. n c. Brewer, Me   Sept. 8,1828
*Fessenden,'l.A.1). Lewiston      Lw.     Portland, Me.  Jan. 23, 1826  Sept.28,1868  42
Godfrey, John E.      Bminor        Law.   Hampden, Me   Sept. 6, 18C9
Granger, Joseph      Callis        Law.    Newburyp't,Ms. Sept. 25,1797
Jewett, Theodore H. S. Berwick     Med     S.Berwick, Mle  Mar. 24. 1815
tPierce, Josiah, jr.  Portland     Law.    Gorham, Me    June 14,1827
Sewall, Jotham  B.   Brunswick   /I.otn.  Bluehill, Me  Oct. 3, 1825
1866
Bailey, Bernard C.   Bath           l erch. Hanover, Ms.  May 17,1796
*Davis, Woodbury     Portland      Law.   Standish, Me. July 25, 1818  Aug. 13, 1871  53
Donnell, Jotham      Houlton       Med     Alna, Me      Nov. 18,1814
Jackson, G. E. B.    Portland      Law.    Portland, Me.  Aug. 14, 1829 
*Ludwig, Moses R. Thomaston        Med.    Waldoboro', Me.       1800  Sept. 6, 1870  70
Peters, John A.      i Bangor      Law.    Ellsworth, Me. Oct. 9,1822
Swan, Charles E.     Calais        Mled.  Calais, Me.    Sept. 5, 1822
Tappan, Benj. jr.    Norridgewo'k  Div    Augusta, Me.   June 26, 1815
1867
*Allen, William      Norridgewo'k Farmer Chilmark, Ms. Apr. 1,1780     July 1, 1873  93
Bickford, Calvin     Warren        Teach. Sedgwick. Me. Jan. 2, 1813
Crosby, Josiah       Dexter        Law.   Atkinson, N.H  Nov. 24, 1816
Cutler, John L.      Augusta       Law.   Farmingt'n,Me. Dec. 15, 1816
Duren, Elnathan F. Bangor         B'ksel'r Boston, Ms.   Jan. 14, 1814
Elder, Jairus G.     Lewiston             St Albans, lVe. Mar. 12, 1835
tHalrris Samuel      Brunswick    Pies.B C. Machias, Me.  June 14, 1814
Talbot, George F.    Machias       Law.   E.Machias,Me   Jan. 16, 1819
1868
Boardman, Sam'l L.i Augusta        Editor Skowheg'n, Me. Mar. 30, 1836
Clifford, Nathan     Portland      Law    Rumney,N. H. Aug. 18, 1803
Gardiner, R. H. jr.  Gardiner      Gent   Pittston, Me.  Nov. 3, 1809
Lincoln, John 1).    Brunswick     Med. 1Brunswick,Me. June 1, 1821




16                              CATALOGUE OF THE
Residence.  Pre o.-  Birthplace.   Birthday.     Death.    Age
Occ'lrtt'n 
LLockwood, A. D.     Lewiston      C.E.   Providence,R.I Oct. 30, 1811
Lynch, John          Portland      Merch Portland, Me.   Feb. 15,1825
Neeley, Henry A.     Portland     DLv.     Fayetteville, N.Y May 14, 1830
Tallman, Benj. F.    Richmond      Law.    Woolwich,Me    Apr. 30, 1800
Witherlee, Wm. H. Castine          Gent.
1869
Blake, Samuel H.     Bangor        Law     Hartford, Me  Jan. 1,1807
tEverett, Charles C. Bangor        Div.    Brunswick,Me. June 19, 1829
tFessenden, Jos. P. Lewiston       Med.    Portland, Me.  Sept. 27, 1831
Field, Edward M.     Bangor        Med.    Belfast. Me.  July 27, 1822
Pierce, Lewis        Portland      Law.   Gorham, Me.    Apr. 15, 1832
Sewall, John S.      Brunswick    lrof.B.C. Woolwich,Me. Mar. 20, 1830
Sewall, Wm. D.       Bath          Merch. Bath, Me.      Jan. 16, 1797
Titcomb, Joseph      Kennebunk     Merch. Kennebunk,^e. June 8,1822
Wells, Walter        Portland      Gent.   Portland, Me.  Nov. 17,1832
1870
Burnham, Edw'd P. Saco             Law.    Kenneb'nkpt,Me Dec. 3, 1827
Cram, Marshall       Brunswick     Merch. Standish, Me.  Jan. 16, 1804
tHopkins, Samuel     Standish      Div.
Ingalls, Henry       Wiscasset     Law.    Bridgton, Me.  Mar. 14, 1819
Mussey, John         Portland      Law.    Portland, Me.  Oct. 19 1790
*Prentiss, Henry E. Bangor         Law.   Paris, Me.     Feb. 12,1809  July 1,1873   64
Thomas, W. W., jr. Portland        Law.    Portland, Me.  Aug. 26, 1839
1872
Austin, Daniel        Kittery      Div.    Boston, Ms.   Nov. 21,1793
Barker, Lewis         Bangor       Law.    Exeter, Me.    Feb 18,1818
Brown, Philip H.     Portland      Merch. Portland, Me.  Oct. 26,1831
Clifford, William H. Portland      Law.    Newfield, Me.  Aug. 11,1841
Danforth, Charles     Gardiner      Law. Norridgew'k,Me Aug. 1, 1815
Hayes, Charles W. Portland          Div    Canand'gua,N.Y. Mar. 9, 1828
Humphrey, S. F.       Bangor        Law.   Londondr'y,N,H  Mar. 8, 1822
Lapham, Wm. B.        Augusta       Med.   Greenwood,Me.  Aug. 21, 1828




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                                    17
Residence.  Profes-   Birthplace.  Birthday.
sion or
Occnpat'n
Perham, Sidney       Paris        Gent.   Woodsto'k,Me Mar. 27, 1819
Roberts, Chas. W.    Bangor       Merch. Oldtown, Me.   Oct. 22, 1828
Tenney, Albert G.    Brunswick    Editor Newbury, Ms. July 2,1814
Woods, Noah          Bangor       Law.   Groton, Ms.    Sept.26, 1811
1873
Davis, George T.     Portland     Law.   Sandwich, Ms. Jan. 12, 1810
Goold, William       Windham      Gent. Windham, Me.
Hackelton, Jas. H.   Bristol     Teach.  Bristol, Me.   Apr. 9,1819
Hathaway, J. W.      Norridgewck  Gent.  Ellsworth, Me. July 9,1832
Longfellow,Alex.W. Deering        C.E.   Portland, Me.
O'Brien, O. St. C.   Bristol      Med.
Varney, George J.    Brunswick    Teach. Brunswick,Me. Apr. 4,1836




CORRESPONDING MEMIBERS.
Ezra Abbott.                     Cambridge, Mass.
*John A. Andrew,        *1867    Boston, Mass.
*Alexander H. Bache,             IWashington, D. C.
Leonard Bacon,                   New Haven, Conn.
George Bancroft,                 New York
William S. Bartlett,              Chelsea, Mass.
John R. Bartlett,                Providence, R. I.
Edward E. Beardsley,             New Haven, Conn.
Charles J. Biddle,               Philadelphia, Pa.
Porter C. Bliss,                 Boston, Mass.
Nathaniel Bouton,                Concord, N. H.
Frederick Brown,                 Bristol, Eng.
*James Bowdoin,        X*I84     Boston, Mass.
Paul A. Chalbourne,              WVilliamstown, Mass.
Peleg W. Chandler,               Boston, Mass.
Joseph L. Chester,               London, Eng.
William Cothren,                  Woodbury/, Conn.
*John P. Cleaveland,    *1873    New York
Nehemiah Cleaveland,             New York
Horace S. Cooley                 Springfield, M~ass.
*William Crabtree,      *1859    Savannah, Geo.
Charles Deane,                   Cambridge, Mass.
*Henry A. S. Dearborn,  *1851    Roxbury, Mass.
Isaac Watts De Peyster,           Tivoli, N. Y.
Henry W. Dewhurst,               London, Eng.
John C. Dodge,                   Boston, Mass.
S. G. Drake,                     Boston. Mass.
*John Farmer,                    Concord, N. H.
William W. Folwell,              St. Paul, Minn.
Alpheus Felch,                   Detroit, Mich.
John Frothingham,                Montreal, Can.
*Albert Gallatin,       *1849    New York
D. G. Gilman,                    New liaven, Conn.




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                      19
*William F. Goodwin,    *1872    Concord, N. -1.
J. I). Graham,                    U. S. Army
Samuel A. Greene,                Boston, 2Mass.
*Patrick H. Greenleaf,  *1869    Brooklyn, N. Y.
Edward E. Hale,                  Boston, Mass,
*John P. Hale,          *1873    Dover, N. II.
*Salmuel Hale,          *1869     Somersworth, N. H.
Henry Charles Harford,           London, Eng.
Charles H. Hart,                 Philadelphia, Pa.
Henry A. Haynes,                 Burlington, Vt.
J. E. Hilgard,                    Washington, D. C.
Charles J. Hoadley,              Lawrence, Mass.
George N. Hosmer,                Buffalo, N. Y.
George F. Houghton,              St. Albans, Vt.
Joseph J. Howard,                Blackheath. Eng.
*Thaddeus AM. Harris,   *1842    Dorchester, Mass.
Henry Huth,                      London, Eng.
*William Jenks,         *1866    Boston, Mass.
John Jordan,                     Philadelphia, Pa.
George Jones,                    Savannah, Ga.
*Lot Joles,             *1865    New York
John Johnston,                   Middletown, Conn.
Frederick Kidder,                Boston, Mass.
*William I. Kip,*                 San Francisco, Cal.
J. G. Kohl,                      Bremen, Germany
William B. Lawrence,             New York
*Josiah Little,         *1860    Newburyport, iMass.
William E. Logan,                Montreal, Can.
William H. Lord,                 Monttpelier, Vt.
11. H. Major,                    London, Eng.
J. A. McAllister,                Philadelphia, Pa.
Franklin M'Duffie,               Rochester, N. H.
Jules D'Aulllay Menou            Paris, France
Freeman H. Morse,                London, Eng.
B. Wistar Morris,                Germantown, Pa.
Thomas F. Moses,                  Urbana, Ohio
Joel Munsell,                    Albany, N. Y.
Beamish Murdoch,                 Halifax, N. S.
John G. Palfrey,                 Boston, Mass.
Usher Parsons,                   Providence, R. I.
John Pike,                       Rowley, Mass.




20              MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Jairus W. Perry,                   Salem, Mass.
James W. Patterson,                Hanover, N. H.
George H. Preble,                  U. S. Navy
J. Meredith Read,                  Albany. N. Y.
*Eleazer W. Ripley,      *1840     New Orleans, La.
James Robb,                        Fredericton, N. B.
Chandler Robbins,                  Boston, Mass.
W. Noel Sainsbury,                 London, Eng.
*James Savage,           *1873     Boston, Mass.
Frank Sewall,                      Urbana, Ohio
John L. Sibley,                    Cambridge, Mass.
*Jared Sparks,           *1866     Cambridge, Mass.
Henry Stevens,                     London, Eng.
J. K. Teft,                        Savannah, Ga.
J. Wingate Thornton,               Boston, Mass.
J. Hammond Trumbull,               Hartford, Conn.
Septimus Tuston,                   Washington, D. C.
Alexander Vattemare,               Paris, France
A. G. Vermilye,                    Newburyport, Mass.
Eugene Vetromile,                  Worcester, Mass.
J. A. Vinton,                      Winchester, Mass.
Nathaniel S. Waldron,              Portsmouth, N. II.
Charles A. Washburn,               WVashington, D. C.
Albert B. Weymouth,                Boston, Mass.
William A. Wheeler,                Boston, Mass.
William A. Whitehead,              Newark, N. J.
William H. Whitmore,               Boston, Mass.
Robert C. Winthrop,                Boston, Mass.
*Thomas L. Winthrop,     *1841     Boston, Mass.
Emory Washburn,                    Cambridge, Mass.
J. Fletcher Williams,              St. Paul, Minn.
J. K. Wiggin,                      Boston, Mass.
Cyrus Woodman,                     Cambridge, Mass.
William E. Woodward,               Roxbury, Mass.
Nathaniel Wright,                  Cincinnati, Ohio
vy The * and year affixed to the name indicate the decease and date of
decease. We claim as corresponding members many gentlemen who have
been acting members and have removed from the State, whose names will be
found in their appropriate places in the foregoing Catalogue.




MEMBERS
OF THE
MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY.
[rThe date of election is appended to the names of all except the original corporators.
IATE OF ELECT.                   DATE OF ELECT.
*Abbott, William                    *Black, John               1830
tAbbot, John S. C.         1854     Blake, Samuel H.           1869
*Abbott, John              1822     *Bradbury, George
fAbbot, John S.             1846    Bradbury, James W.         1846
*Adams, Joseph             1834     *Bradley, Samuel           1846
*Adams, Solomon            1834     *Bradley, Sam'l A.         1828
tAllen, Elisha H.          1846     *Bridge, James
*Allen, Fred. H.           1846     *Bronson, D)avid           1828
*Allen, William            1867     *Brown, Theodore S.        1828
*Allen, Frederick          1822    Brown, Philip H.            1872
*Allen, William                    Brown, John M.              1865
*Ames, Benjamin                    Bryant, Hubbard W.          1865
*Anderson, John            1846    Boardman, Sam'l L.          1868
*Appleton, N. D.           1846    *Bond, Thomas
Appleton, John             1864    tBoody, Henry H.            1854
Austin, Daniel             1872     *Boutelle, Timothy         1828
*Bourne, Edw'd E.           1834
*Bailey, Jeremiah          1822     *Burgess, George           1851
Bailey, Bernard C.         1866     Burnham, Edw'd P.          1870
*Balch, Horatio G.
*Ballard, Edward           1859     Carruthers, John J.        1849
*Bariies, Phinehas         1856    Chamberlain, J. L.          1865
Barrows, Wm. G.            1862     *Chamberlain, M.           1830
Barker, Lewis              1872    Champlin, J. T.             1849
tBatchelder, J. M.         1846     *Chapin, Stephen           1822
*Beckwith, Geo. C.         1834    *Chaplin, Jeremiah          1822
*Belcher, Hiram            1846     *Chessman, David           1822
Benson, Samuel P.          1839     *Child, James L.           1859
Bickford, Calvin           1867    tChickering, J. W.          1849
Blaine, James G.           1864     *Clark, William            1828
4




22                      CATALOGUE OF THE
DATE OF ESECT.                     DATE OF ELECT.
*Cleaveland, Parker        1822    *Ellingwood, J W.          1846
tClement, Jonathan         1846    Emery, Moses               1846
Clifford, Nathan           1868    *Emery, Stephen            1846
Clifford, William H.       1872    *Emery, Nicholas           1834
Cram, Marshall             1870    *Emerson, Samuel           1828
*Cobb, David               1822    *Emmons, Wms.              1839
*Cole, Joseph G.           1834    *Evans, George             1828
tCole, Jonathan            1847    *Everett, Stevens          1828
*Cogswell, Jonathan                tEverett, Charles C.       1869
*Cony, Daniel                      *Everett, Ebenezer         1822
*Cony, Samuel              1849
Crosby, Wm. G.             1846    *Fairfield, John           1847
Crosby, Josiah             1867    +Fales, Thomas F.          1846
Cummings, Nathan           1834    Farley, E. Wilder          1846
*Cummings, Asa             1828    tFarmer, Wm.               1836
*Curtis, Thomas            1839    *Farrar, Samuel            1846
Cushman, David Q.          1859    *Fessenden, W. P.          1846
Cutler, John L.            1867    *Fessenden, Samuel         1828
*Cutler, Nathan            1828    *Fessenden, T.A.D.         1865
*Cutter, William           1831    tFessenden, Jos. P.        1869
Field, Edward M.           1869
*Dana, John W.             1846    *Fisher, Jonathan          1830
*Dana, Judah                       Fiske, John 0,             1859
*Dane, Joseph                      *Folsom, George            1831
Danforth, Charles          1872    Fox, Edward                1850
Davis, George T.           1873    *Freeman, Charles          1846
*)avis, Woodbury           1866    *Frothingham, Wm.          1822
*l)aveis, Chas. S.         1828    *Fuller, Henry W.          1828
*Deane, John G.            1828
*Deblois, Thos. A.         1834    *Gardiner, R. H.
Deering, Nathaniel         1846    Gardiner, R. H. jr.        1868
Dike, Samuel F.            1864    tGardiner, Fred.           1849
Donnell, Jotham            1866    *Gillett, Eliphalet
*Downes, George            1846    Gilman, Charles J.         1864
*Dunlap, Robert P.         1828    Gilman, John T.            1846
*Dummer, Charles           1862    Godfrey, John E.           1865
Duren, Elnathan F.         1867    tGoodwin, Dan'l R.         1851
*Dwight, Wm. T.            1834    *Goodenow, Daniel          1846
*Goodenow, Robt.           1846
*Eastman, Philip           1846    *Goodenow, Wnm.            1846
Eaton, Cyrus               1859    Goold, William             1873
Elder, Jairus G.           1867     Granger, Joseph           1865




MAINE IIISTORICAL SOCIETY.                       23
DATE OF FLECT.                    DATE OF ELECT.
*Granger, Daniel T.        1846    Keeley, Geo. W.            1849
*Greeley, Allen            1822    tKellogg, Elijah, jr.      1846
*Greene, Benj.             1822    *Kellogg, Elijah           1830
*Greenleaf, Jon'than       1822    Kent, Edward               1831
*Greenleaf, Moses          1822    *Kingsbery, Sanford
*Greenleaf, Simon          1830    *King, William
*Groton, Nathaniel         1846
*Ladd, Wm.                 1836
Hackelton, Jas. H.         1873    Lapham, Wm. B.             1872
Haines, W. P.              1849    *Leland, Joseph W.         1846
*Hamlin, Elijah L.         1859    *Libby, Joseph             1846
tHarris Samuel             1867    Lincoln, John 1).          1868
*Hasey, Benjamin                   *Lincoln, Enoch
Hathaway, J. W.            1873     Lincoln, Isaac
*Hathaway, Joshua W.       1828    *Lincoln, Theodore         1822
*Hayes, Wm. A.                     *Little, Josiah S.         1846
Hayes, Charles W.          1872    fLocke, John L.            1859
*Hayes, David              1846    cLockwood, A. D.           1868
tHedge, Fred. H.           1839    *Longfellow, Stephen
tHitchcock, R. 1).         1854    tLongfellow, H.W.          1831
tHodgdon, John             1846    Longfellow,Alex.W.         1873
*Holmes, Ezekiel           1846    *Loomis, Harvey            1822
*Holmes, John                      *Ludwig, Moses R.          1866
tHopkins, Samuel           1870    Lynch, John                1868
Howard, Joseph             1846
*How, Nathaniel            1828    *Mann, Ariel
Humphrey, S. F.            1872    *McGaw, Jacob
*Hurd, Carlton             1830    *McIntire, Rufus           1828
*Hyde, Zina                1846    *McKeen, James             1828
*McKeen, John              1828
tIlsley, Charles P.        1846    *McKeen, Joseph            1822
*Ilsley, Isaac             1828    *McLellan, Judah           1828
Ingalls, Henry             1870    tMcKenzie, Alex.           1864
*Ingalls, Theodore         1849    *Mellen, Prentiss
*Mellen, Grenville         1828
Jackson, G. E. B.          1866    *Merrick, John
*Jarvis, Leonard                   tMoody, Isaiah P.          1846
Jewett, Theodore H.        1865    Morrill, Lot M.            1856
*Johnson, Samuel           1824    Mussey, John               1870
*Johnson, Alfred, jr.      1822
*Nason, Reuben             1828
*Kavanagh, Edw'd           1831    Neeley, Henry A.           1868




24                     CATALOGUE OF THE
DATE OF ELECT.                      DATE OF FLECT.
*Newman, Sam'l P.          1822    *Quinby, Moses            1846
*Nichols, Ichabod
North, James W.            1861    *Randall, Benj.           1846
Nourse, Amos               1846    *Redington, Asa jr.       182S
*Nourse, Peter             1822   Rice, Richard 1.           1859
*Richardson, H. L.        1849
*O'Brien, John M.          1846   *Robbiis, A. C.            1851
O'Brien, O. St. C.         1873   Roberts, Chas. W.          1872
*Orr, Benjamin                    *Robinson, Sylv.W.         1828
*Otis, John                1846    *Rose, Daniel
Rowe, James S.             1846
*Packard, Hezekiah                 *Ruggles, John            1846
Packard, Alpheus S.        1828    *Russell, Edward
"Packard, Charles         1828
tPaine, Henry W.           1851   tSabine, l,orenzo          1846
*Paine, William            1846   tSawtelie, Cullen          1845
tPalmer, Ray               1846   *Seaver, Josiah W.
Palfrey, Cazneau           1851    *Selden, Calvin           1828
*Parker, James                     *Sewall, )avid
*Parris, Albion K.                 *Sewall, Joseph           1822
tPattison, Robt. E.        1839    *Sewall, Wm. B.           1830
*Payne, Lemuel             1828    Sewall, John S.           1869
*Payson, Edward                    Sewall, Wm. D.            1869
tPeck, Isaac               1831    Sewall, Jotham B.         1865
Perham, Sidney             1872    Sewall, Rufus K.          1858
tPerry, W. Stevens         1862    Sewall, Fred. D.          1861
Peters, John A.            1866    Severance, Luther         1846
tPierce, Josiah, jr.       1865    *Shepard, George          1828
Pierce, Lewis              1869    *Sheppard, John H.        1828
*Pierce, Geo. W.           1834    *Simonton, Putnam         1849
*Pierce, Josiah            1846    *Smith, S. E.
*Pomeroy, Swan L.          1828    *Smith, John              1830
*Pond, Samuel M.           1830   tSmith, Joseph E.          1864
Pond, Enoch                1846    *Smith, Wi. B.            1864
*Poor, John A.             1846    Sheldon, David N.         1849
*Porter, Rufus K.          1830    Shepley, Geo. F.          1851
*Potter, Barrett           1834    tShepley, David           1834
*Preble, Edward D.         1834    Shepley, Ether
*Preble, Wm. P.                    tShepley, Samuel H.       1847
*Prentiss, Henry E.        1870    *Smyth, Wm.               1830
*Preston, Warren           1828    *Soule, Charles           1846
tSouthgate, Wm. S          1851




MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.                         25
DATE OF ELECT.                        DATE OF ELECT.
tSprague, Peleg                     *Virgin, Peter C.           1846
*Stebbens, Josiah           1822    *Vose, Richard H.           1846
Storer, Seth                1846
Storer, Seth                1846    *Walker, Joseph             1846
tSwallow, Geo. C.           1846    *War,     oseph             1846
Swan, Charles E.            1866     Waren, Eben..
*Swan, Joshua A.            1864     Warren, Hen                1828
* Warren, Henry             1828
Talbot, George F.           1867    Washburn, Israel, jr.       1864
Waterman, John A.           1864
Tallman, Benj. F.           1868    *Well, Geo. W.              1828
*peWells, Geo. W.           1828
*Tappan, Benj.
*.Tappan, Enoch5.          W1822    Wells, Walter               1869
*Tappan, Enoch Sj.          1822 t6Weston, Edw'd P.             1864
Tappal, Benj. jr.           1866
*Tenney, John S.            1846    &\Veston, Nathan,jr.
*Xyeston, Jona. D.          1828
Tenney, Albert G.           1872       heeler Amos ).           1846
*Thacher, Stephen           1850     Whitman, Ezekiel           1830
*, Whitman, Ezekiel        1830
tThacher, Peter             1846
o Whitman, Jason           1834
*Thatcher, George           1822
* Whitman, Levi            1828
*Thayer, Solomon            1828    *Willis Wim                 1828
\\\i Wils, William          1828
Thomas, W. W.,jr.           1870 
*Thormt, oN Da r           18746   Williams, Joseph H.         1864
*lhurston, D~avid           1846
*Thuristoin, 1)aid- 1846           *Williams, Reuel
"Ihurston, Elh             1846
*o-hurseto, 4EliP           1846    Williams, Daniel            1831
*Tilton, Nathan             1830    Williamson, Joseph          180
Upha       hos. C.          1828      ilamson, ilmJoseph        184650
oodhull, Richad                 18461869
Varney,   eorge J.          1873      il msonoma, J. C.        1846
aug,      Benj.                     Woos, Leonard, jr.          1854
*Vaugh, John A.          131     Wooils, Noah                1872
+~'lr~ue, S. r.            1861
*Tyler, 11eonett *Wingate,                    Joshua
*l~yler, 1-ennett           1828
Witherlee,  Wm. H.          1868
*Upham   l'hos. C.          1828     Wood, Wilmot               1846
^Woodhull, Richard         1846
Varney,;eorge J.          1873    *Wo~odman, J. C.            1846
*Vaugh^;', Benj.                    Woods, Leonard, jr.         1839
*Vaugh n;, John A.          1831    Woods, Noah                 1872








ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
CATALOGUE OF MEMBERS.
P. 5.-Rev. Jonathan Cogswell was born in Rowley,* Mass.
Leonard Jarvis, Esq., was born in Cambridge, Oct. 19, 1781, and
died Sept. 18, 1854.
P. 7.-Rev. Wm. Frothingham was born March 14, 1777, and died at the
-age of 75.
Rev. Jonathan Greenleaf died April 24, 1865.
Moses Greenleaf was born Oct 17, 1778, and died March 20, 1834.
Rev. Harvey Loomis died very suddenly Jan. 2, 1825.
P. 8.-Judah McLellan, Esq., died in 1864, aged 85.
For Payne Lemuel, read Paine.
Rev. Swan L. Pomroy was born in Warwick, Mass.
Warren Preston, Esq., was born in Uxbridge, Mass., Dec. 21, 1783,
and died July 1, 1861, aged 78.
P. 9.-Jona. D. Weston, Esq., died in October, 1834, aged 52.
Samuel M. Pond, Esq., died in 1849.
Rev. John Smith was born in Belchertown, Mass., March 5, 1766,
and died April 14, 1831, aged 65.
Solomon Adams was born in Middleton, Mass., March 30, 1797, and
died July 20, 1870, in the 74th year of his age.
P. 10.-Rev. William Farmer was born in Townsend, Mass., Feb. 24, 1793,
and died June 24, 1862, aged 69.
Rev. Robert E. Pattison was born in Benson, Vt., August 19, 180.0,
and died Nov. 21, 1874, aged 74.
John Anderson, Esq., died Aug. 21, 1853.
P. 11.-Samuel Farrar was born in Portsmouth, N. H., Dec. 28, 1805, and
died Dec. 6, 1862, aged 57.




28                   ERRATA AND ADDENDA.
P. 12.-John Ruggles, Esq., was born in October, 1869, and died June 20,
1874, in the 85th year of his age.
Lorenzo Sabine was born in Lisbon, N. H., Feb. 28, 1803.
P. 13.-Dr. Putnam Simonton was born at Camden, Me., Sept. 12, 1812,
and died Feb. 13, 1870, in the 58th year of his age.
P. 14.-Cyrus Eaton died Jan. 21, 1875, aged 91.
Rev. John L. Locke was born in Belfast, Me., July 6, 1832.
P. 15.-For Jairus G. Elder, read Janus G. Elder.
P. 16.-For Henry A. Neeley, read Henry A. Neely.
P. 17.-Our brother William Goold asserts his right to be denominated a
farmer. He was born April 13, 1809, and lives on the paternal
acres.
P. 18.-For * Alexander H. Bache, read * Alexander D. Bache * 1867.
For S. G. Drake, read * Samuel G. Drake * 1875.
John Farmer died in 1838.
P. 19.-For J. D. Graham, read * James D. Graham * 1865.
For Henry A. Haynes, read Henry W. Haynes.
For Samuel A. Greene, read Samuel A Green.
For George F. Houghton, read * George F. Houghton.
Usher Parsons died in 1868.
P. 20. -For Alexandre Vattemare, read * Alexandre Vattemare.
For William A. Wheeler, read * William A. Wheeler * 1874.
For John E. Locke, read * John E. Locke * 1875.